The Cryonic Man A ME2 Story
by gale1243
Summary: John Desmond, a 19 year-old bike courier in NYC, lives a normal life. Then, while on a delivery, he is accidentaly cryo frozen and sent up into space as part of Project Archimedes. In 2185, he is found and unfrozen on the Normandy SR-2. Not self-insert
1. Prologue Part 1: I Dream of Jeannie

**The Cryonic Man**  
><span>Prologue Part 1<span>: I Dream of Jeannie

A bit of foreword  
>This is my first story so please no flames.<br>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).  
>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Date<strong>: October 12, 2011

"_Please just forget about me"_

"_I can't, I care about you"_

"_You deserve to be with someone who makes you happy, who you can touch and kiss whenever you want. I'm not good enough for you." She said with hints of tears in her eyes._

"_Lia, I love you, you make me happy, the happiest man alive. You're brave, selfless and beautiful, and if anything I'm not good enough for you. But, I know one thing for sure: I don't want anyone else, I want you, and I don't care that I can't touch you whenever I feel like. I love you, and I'm willing to do anything to be with you."_

"_Oh John, I love you too."_

* * *

><p>BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ<p>

"Gaah," said John followed by a sigh and the hitting of the snooze button on his alarm clock a few seconds later

"Man, third week in a row," said John.

He then proceeded to get up and begin his morning routine of showering, shaving, and eating breakfast to prep for his day in the city of New York. All the while thinking about the dream he had, the same dream for the past three weeks. He never saw faces, only heard voices, but what stumped him truly was the fact that in some way, hearing that woman, Lia's, voice made his heart sing and feel sorrow at the same time.

_What is going on with me, why does this dream keep recurring, who is this Lia?_

All of these questions kept running through John Desmond's mind ever since the dreams first started. The 19 year old bike courier couldn't believe how real the dreams felt, like he was actually there, listening as events unfolded. But he decided that he shouldn't dwell on them for now, he had to get moving. After finishing his breakfast he decided to stop by Starbucks on the way to work to grab a coffee and have a talk with Zevran, his best friend.

Heading out of his apartment, he saw Mrs. Windsboro, his neighbor.

"Good morning Johnny boy," said the woman

"Morning Mrs. W.," replied John

Ever since he had moved into to the building Mrs. Windsboro had always acted as sort of a grandmother figure to John, talking to him, chatting with him, sometimes she would make him a lunch for when he went on break at work. John cared about her greatly, almost like the grandmother he had never had. Only there was one small problem.

"So how did your date go last night," she asked.

She insisted so much on John finding a girl and settling down that she set him up with every one of her bingo buddies' granddaughters. "You never know when you could die, and you certainly don't want to die alone," she would always say, which always made John wonder how such a sweet old woman could think so morbidly.

"It didn't really go so well," John said, which was a bit of a lie. Truth was, it had been a total disaster, namely because his blind date was 100% insane.

"Oh well, we'll just have to try again eh?" said Mrs. Windsboro.

"Guess so," said John followed by a sigh. "Well I got to head out. Bye Mrs. W."

He then made a beeline out the door and didn't look back.

* * *

><p>After getting off the green-line train and heading off into 82nd Street, he ran to the local Starbucks or at least to the one of 100's in the same vicinity. In the coffee shop, he ordered just a plain cup of coffee and waited for the inevitable….<p>

"HEY, D-MAN"

Well, that.

"Hey Zevran," said John.

Zevran was two years older than John. He was also 4 inches shorter, was a little bit overweight, had tan skin, and blond hair. The two had been best friends ever since John first moved to the NYC.

"What's up man, how did your date go last night, was she hot, did you steal home plate," asked Zevran all at the same time.

"Everything's OK I guess, yes she was hot, and it went terrible," answered John.

"Oh come on it couldn't have been that bad," though secretly he knew that it probably was.

"She tried to stab me in the eye with a salad fork," countered John.

"Well you've been through worse; remember the one who was so crazy about her fear of germs that when you tried to hold her hand she broke your arm," Replied Zevran.

John shuddered at the memory; he just couldn't figure out women. He was a mostly good-looking guy with short, brown hair, blue eyes, white teeth, and a fair bit of muscle. Zevran joked sometimes about wondering why he wasn't beating off girls with a stick. Truth was, he just didn't have the time for a relationship, what with working long hours on his job.

Nevertheless he chuckled a bit, "Yeah maybe I should start inviting the NYPD to my dates just to save time on calling them when something goes horribly wrong."

They both laughed at this though both of them secretly wondered if maybe it would be a good idea.

"Well man, I'm guessing you're not here to gossip," said Zevran after they both wiped the tears from their eyes after laughing so hard.

"I had the dream again last night." Said John after a pause.

"Man, third week in a row?" John had told his friend about the dreams after the third day he had been having them. Then he was teased by Zevran who repeatedly made fun of him saying, "I guess the only non-crazy women in your life are in your dreams." However after the second week, he became concerned, suggesting John should see a psychologist about it.

"With the paycheck I'm living on, I'd be lucky to hire some random person on the street," John had replied to the idea, half-joking and half-serious.

_Returning to the present_

"Yep, and they don't seem to want to stop," said John.

"Well man, I don't know what to tell ya, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I just wish I knew why these dreams are happening man," replied John.

"Well, you know I'm always here if you need to talk man," said Zevran

"Thanks Zevran, well I gotta go before the boss yells at me for being late," said John.

They both said goodbye and John headed off to work at PlanetTech Deliveries.


	2. Prologue Part 2: Project Archimedes

**The Cryonic Man**  
><span>Prologue Part 2:<span> Project Archimedes

A bit of foreword  
>This is my first story so please no flames.<br>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).  
>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create<p>

* * *

><p>Looking at his watch John realized he was late by about a half an hour. Silently he was praying that Mr. Decker, his manager, didn't notice.<p>

"DESMOND!"

Apparently whoever he was praying too was out today.

"Care to explain why you arrived 30 minutes for your shift?"

"Sorry Mr. Decker, it won't happen again, I promise," said John.

"Sorry isn't good enough Mr. Desmond, you're going to have to work the late shift if you don't want to lose your paycheck," replied Mr. Decker.

"Yes sir," said John

Long ago, John had learned 2 things: 1) His boss was a fricken slavedriving jerk and 2) He had to deal with this crap if he wanted to keep the only job he could find in New York.

Let me explain, John Desmond was not a dumb man by any definition, in fact he was quite intelligent. He actually was going to Empire State University to learn Mechanical Engineering. That all changed when his parents died. The shock and sadness he felt lasted for weeks, but what was worse was after his parents died, their financial records vanished, leaving his family essentially penniless. Scholarships refused him also, which left him unable to pay tuition. He then dropped out of college, and was forced to work for minimum wage delivering packages.

"Here is your route today, I expect it all to be done by closing time, understand," said Mr. Desmond.

"Yes sir," replied John.

He headed out to the loading dock to grab his packages for his route and his bike, and set about his route."

_After One Day's Work_

"Ugh"

It was 10:00 p.m. and John had finally come back to the office after a long day of delivering packages to high up floors in office buildings.

"Man, I'm surprised I don't sleep for weeks after days like today," John said to himself.

He headed to his locker to grab his subway pass and the rest of his stuff to get ready to head home, which everyone, including Mr. Decker, had done.

"If I run I should be able to catch the next train."

He then slammed his locker door, and just as he was about to leave he heard a loud thump. Turning around he saw a small package. "Weird" he thought.

"_One of the couriers must have forgotten to deliver it."_

As much as limbs screamed not to, he decided to just go deliver it since he had seen Mr. Decker's anger when a package wasn't delivered. It was so bad it could make the most heartless soldier cry. So, being the good guy, he decided to quickly deliver it since the address wasn't too far away.

He grabbed a bike and pedaled as hard and fast as he could.

* * *

><p><em><span>Later at the delivery address<span>_

"Alright, this is the place."

The building looked like a science lab, and since some of the lights were still on, John assumed that there was still someone there, so he headed inside.

"Hello, is anyone here, I have a package addressed to this building, hello," called out John

"_Hmm, let's see here, apparently it goes to a certain department, Lab AR apparently."_

So John began his trek across the building.

"_Let's see Lab AB, AP, and ah here it is Lab AR."_

The lab itself was strangely empty, except for a couple machines, a weird metal pad, and a couple of weird pods. He moved over to one of the machines and stared at it for a little while. He found the design strangely futuristic.

He then heard a noise coming from the back of one of the machines and decided to investigate.

"Excuse me, is someone there?"

The grey-haired man who was behind the machine all of a sudden looked up with a look of shock on his face and all of a sudden was running towards John.

All of a sudden, John found himself tackled to the ground and in a struggle with the weird man.

"What are you doing," yelled John in the midst of the chaos.

"I'm sorry, but I have to stop the project," said the weird grey-haired man whose eyes had begun glowing a weird yellow color.

John pushed the weird man off of him and began searching for some sort of weapon.

Finding none he began a fist-fight with the man.

They each fought each other with all their might, trading blows until both of them were bloody and bruised. Taking advantage of John's weariness, the grey-haired, yellow-eyed man tackled him into the controls to one of the machines and began to choke him.

As much as he struggled, John couldn't seem to break free. He felt his hands move all over the machine looking for something that could help him. He found his saving grace with a loose pipe, which he forcefully pulled off the machine and hit his attacker with it. Momentarily stunned, the yellow-eyed man was about to charge for another assault when the pipe hit him and knocked him out.

John stepped back for a moment to catch his breath, and wonder about WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED? However his musings were interrupted when the yellow-eyed man came up from behind and tackled him for the third time in the fight. They both were knocked onto a weird pad-shaped thing next to a console. The battled continued until John was knocked to the floor again.

"The project must be stopped," the man said over and over.

"I don't know who you are or what you are doing, but GET OFF OF ME!" yelled John.

He picked up his pipe again and hit the man repeatedly until the yellow-eyed man fell off him.

Then John noticed that the man wasn't moving, his forehead was bleeding and something else, his eyes had stopped glowing. Then he heard a high-pitched alarm coming from the console next to the metal pad he was standing on.

"What's going on?" said John just as some kind of container covered him and the pad.

He quickly made his way to the small window of the container and started yelling for someone, anyone to help him.

"HELP, SOMEONE! GET ME OUT!" John said as he pounded on the window.

He then heard an electronic voice say, "_Subject 6 of Project Archimedes, please remain calm. Cryogenic sequence initiated."_

John felt his eyes widen, and he began to pound harder and yell louder.

"_Flash freeze commencing in 10, 9, 8,"_

John kept pounding, praying that someone would come and save him.

"_7, 6, 5, 4,"_

"PLEASE SOMEONE," John yelled as tears began rolling down his face.

"_3, 2, 1, 0_."

John saw a flash a light and then everything went black.

* * *

><p>(The next morning)<p>

The employees of Lab AR began the preparations for the transportation of the six cryo pods to Cape Canaveral, where Project Archimedes would begin it's final stages. A project which would allow humankind to see if it was actually alone in the universe. Unaware were they that the sixth pod contained a 19 year old bike courier whose life was about to change drastically.

After the pods were airshipped to the shuttle, the countdown began, for the launch.

"_3, 2, 1, we have lift-off; repeat we have lift-off."_

The shuttles rockets ignited sending the shuttle, and its frozen passengers, skyward. Little did the operators of the project know that the shuttle would lose contact after the fifth year, when the project would officially be considered a failure.


	3. Chapter 1: A Blast from the Past

**The Cryonic Man**

Chapter 1: A Blast from the Past

A bit of foreword  
>This is my first story so please no flames.<br>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).  
>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create<p>

_Italics stand for thoughts and voices over an intercom_

**Info on Shepard listed below:**

Commander Alex Shepard

Male  
>Paragon<br>Spacer  
>War Hero<br>No LI from ME  
>Saved Wrex and Sacrificed Ashley on Virmire<br>Saved the Council  
>Voted Anderson as Councilor<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Date<strong>: June 2185

"It's great to have you back on the team Garrus," said Shepard

"Well, if you're going to go up against suicidal odds, I might as well come along and save your ass when it gets too much for you to handle," joked Garrus.

They both shared a good laugh and walked while Shepard gave Garrus a tour of the new ship, at least until Joker came over the intercom.

"_Uhh Commander, you better get up here, there's something you need to see."_

"I'll be right back Garrus," said Shepard

"No problem Shepard"

Commander Alex Shepard went to the elevator and pushed the button to call it down and head up to the CIC. While in there he thought about what he had experienced in the past few days. Coming back to life, joining up with Cerberus to stop the Collectors, seeing Tali again on Freedom's Progress. Tali, seeing her again brought joy to his heart. Recruiting Mordin and finally, finding out Archangel was Garrus and saving his life.

The door opened and he headed out into the CIC, walking past Kelly who said he had messages, and headed for the cockpit.

"Okay Joker what was this thing you wanted me to…"

Shepard found himself at a loss for words, as right in front of the Normandy was something he never expected to see in his lifetime. A space shuttle, an old form of space travel from before the Mass Relays were discovered. He had seen pictures of shuttles in historical records before but he had never seen one in person before.

"EDI, can you find out what that craft is?"

"_Searching galactic records. Match found, scans show that this craft is from the year 2011, markings show that this craft was created by a former Earth nation known as the United States as a part of a secret government project known as Project Archimedes."_

"What's Project Archimedes," Joker asked.

"_Project Archimedes was a project by the former United States in which six astronauts were cryogenically frozen and launched in a shuttle so that when alien life was found in the far reaches of the galaxy, the astronauts would be unfrozen and be able to make contact with those species." _replied EDI.

"Why were the astronauts frozen?" asked Shepard.

"_Records show that since humans only have a life-span of 74 years on average, the astronauts would have to be cryogenically frozen in order to survive the long amount of time it would take to find a planet with sentient life."_

"What is it still doing out here," asked Joker.

"_Unknown, records on project show that after 5 years, the shuttle lost contact with the United States and the project was classified as a failure."_

"Are the astronauts still alive," said Shepard.

"_Unknown, preliminary scans show that power is not active on the ship, but there is a slim chance the cryogenic pods are still on board"_

"Well if those people are still alive, we need to find them on that ship. Joker tell Mordin and Garrus to meet me at the Kodiak, we need to be prepared for anything we might find in there," said Shepard

"On it Commander," replied Joker.

_30 minutes later_

The Kodiak flew near the door of the shuttle, and Mordin unsealed it with an Incendiary Blast. The group of Shepard, Garrus, and Mordin stepped into the shuttle and began looking around.

"Fascinating, pre-mass relay space travelling technology of humans very obsolete but also strangely similar to some ships of today. Humans must have made this ship not knowing they were not too far behind from rest of galaxy," Said Mordin.

"What exactly are we looking for Shepard," said Garrus.

"We're looking for a 6 pods containing 6 human popsicles," answered Shepard.

"Commander, you should see this," yelled Mordin who was in the cargo hold.

Garrus and Shepard headed to Mordin in the cargo hold, where they saw something that made them feel horror.

5 of the six pods had been shut down after the shuttle had apparently lost power, and since the reanimation process was one of the functions of the pods, the 5 astronauts who were unlucky enough to be in those pods died from lack of oxygen, while still unconscious. Their bodies were still slowly decomposing, giving the hold a horrible stench of death.

"My god, this is terrible," said Shepard with a touch of shock in his voice.

"Shepard, take a look, there's still one pod still active, must have had enough power to last until the auxillery come on," said Garrus.

"EDI, can we take this pod to the Normandy without any problems," Shepard said over his radio.

"_It is possible for transport of the cryogenics tube, but the pod must have power in order to function. Haste is recommended if the human in this pod is to be saved."_

"Then we need to get moving, Joker bring in the Normandy, we need a pick-up." Said Shepard

"_On it, Commander," _Joker replied.

He looked at the pod, and hoped they could save this man before it's too late.


	4. Chapter 2: A Face Full of the Future

**The Cryonic Man  
><strong>Chapter 2: A Face Full of the Future

A bit of foreword  
>This is my first story so please no flames.<br>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).  
>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create<p>

_Italics stand for thoughts and voices over an intercom_

* * *

><p>John felt hazy as he began to wake up. He felt cold, his limbs had lost feeling, and he had a splitting headache as well.<p>

"Wa, where am I," he asked in his haze.

He then heard voices coming from all directions.

"_Shepard, he's waking up,"_

"_Commander, subject is still not completely reanimated, we need more time,"_

"_Give him the sedative,"_

Then he felt the world turn black once more.

* * *

><p><em>6 hours later<em>

"GAHH," John yelled as he stood up.

"Hello there young man," said a voice to his right.

"Who's there, where am I, am I dead, WHAT IS GOING ON!" yelled John.

"Calm down, I'm Doctor Chakwas, no you are not dead, you are currently on the Normandy SR-2, and you were retrieved from a space shuttle and revived from your cryo-pod," said the woman to his right.

"Space shuttle, cryo-pod, Normandy?"

And then all of a sudden, he remembered everything. The delivery, the attack by the yellow-eyed man, being sealed in a pod, and then being flash frozen.

"Oh my god," said John.

"I must say, you don't look like much of an astronaut," said Dr. Chakwas.

"That's because I'm not. My name is John Desmond and I'm a 19 year old bike courier from New York," replied John.

"Then what were you doing in the shuttle," asked Dr. Chakwas.

He then explained what happened, from the start of his day to the delivery, to the attack by the weird man and then to being locked into a container and cryogenically frozen. Chakwas listened to the story intently, laughing at some parts, and gasping at others.

"Where exactly am I again," John asked breaking the tension.

"Ahh yes, let me explain. You've been frozen for almost 174 years, and a lot has changed since then."

"Like what," John asked.

"Why don't you talk with the Commander, he could probably explain it better than me. In fact, there he is now," said Dr. Chakwas.

Right after she said that John turned to see the door open. Standing in the door was a tall, muscular man with a buzz-cut. John noticed the man had piercing blue eyes, and exuded an intimidation that comes from years in the military. Yet for some reason, to John, the man also exuded a sense of warmth and virtue, something he hadn't seen in most people since his parents died.

That's when he felt a certain melancholy in his heart. 174 years had passed and most of the people he knew were dead. Zevran, Mrs. Windsboro, hell even Mr. Decker, he would never see any of them again. He wondered if Zevran got his act together after he disappeared, maybe Mrs. Windsboro found someone else to dote over, maybe Mr. Decker finally softened up a bit.

John mentally laughed at this; Mr. Decker probably wouldn't soften up even if he was gone a million years. Still he felt a little sad, though he was quickly shaken out of his thoughts when he heard the man named Commander Shepard calling him.

"Excuse me," Shepard said for the 14th time.

"Huh," John said as he looked at the man, "Oh I'm sorry, I was just thinking about a few things, being frozen for 174 years has put a few thoughts in my head."

"I must say when we found you, I was surprised that you were still alive, considering your comrades were all dead," said Shepard.

"They weren't my comrades, I ended up there on accident," said John and after seeing the confused look on Shepard's face, he sighed and told the same story he told to Doctor Chakwas.

Shepard listened to the story going from a light laugh, to a look of a shock, but by the end he had a philosopher's look (think about a face someone makes when they are thinking about something very hard).

"_So, he ended on the shuttle by accident, but something else stands out. That attack by the man with the yellow eyes. Could it possibly be…,"_

"Um, Commander," said Doctor Chakwas.

"Oh uh sorry, so your name is John, right?"

"Yes sir, John Desmond Commander sir," replied John.

"Well John, just call me Shepard, mostly everyone does," said Shepard.

"Um, sure um Shepard," replied John, who felt a little weirded out that there was a person in the military who didn't like to be addressed by his title.

"Well John, the doctor says that you are perfectly fine, how about I give you a tour of the ship while we talk history," said Shepard.

"Um sure Shepard," said John

He then got up and immediately regretted it when he fell down.

"It's alright, after being on a shuttle for 174 years, I kind of have a bit of jet lag." Said John when he saw Shepard and Chakwas move to help him up.

Both the doctor and Shepard laughed at this.

"Joker may have some serious competition on his hands," said Shepard.

John got himself up, noticing he was still wearing the same the clothes he was wearing from that day. Dark shirt with a pattern on it, blue jeans, his black hoodie and his blue tennis shoes. He searched his pockets and found his subway pass and MP3 player, which was still in working condition to his surprise. John enjoyed the fact that as tough as Mr. Decker was, at least he didn't have a dress code for his job.

"I was sure that you didn't want to be in a Cerberus uniform when you woke up," said Shepard.

"It's alright, now come on, I want to check out this space ship of yours and learn what has happened in the past century or so," said John.

* * *

><p>They headed out into the mess hall where John listened as Shepard explained everything that had happened in the past years from the discovery of the Protean artifacts on Mars which led to human science being accelerated by 200 years, to the establishment of the human System's Alliance in 2148, which surprised John that all the countries of the world banded together like that, to the First Contact War with the Turian Hierarchy in 2157, which John stopped halfway through to find out who the Turians are, and finally the events that led up to the Battle of the Citadel, 2 years ago.<p>

"Wow, I've missed out on so much, but why did you stop after 2 years ago," asked John.

"Well John, the reason why is because I was dead all that time," replied Shepard.

John stopped and then said, "Wow, technology has advanced faster than I thought," which both men shared a laugh about.

After that Shepard explained all of the alien races that had been found over the years including the asari, the turians, the salarians, the krogan, the quarians, who John was especially interested in due to their unselfish nature, their amazing tech skills and their envirosuits, a technology that interested John, to the batarians, the volus, the hanar, the drell, the geth, and finally the Collectors and the Reapers, which John faced with a mixture or fear, that a sentient colossus, no several sentient colossi, that wiped out all sentient life every 25,000 years, and skepticism.

By about that time John had more than his fill of information. Shepard asked about his life in the 21st century which John told him about. From his childhood, to studying at Empire State and meeting Zevran, who Shepard said reminded him of a certain Joker on the ship, to his many dating mishaps thanks to Mrs. Windsboro, which both he and John laughed about. To his parent's death, which forced him to drop out of college due to being unable to pay tuition.

"And that's basically it up to the day I got frozen," said John as he looked at his MP3 player again.

"What's that you have there," asked Shepard.

"Oh this, it's an MP3 player, the people of my time used this to listen to music back in the day," said John.

"Next chance we get, we are getting you an Omni-tool," said Shepard.

John and Shepard's conversation was interrupted when they ran into a certain blue-armored individual.

"Hey Shepard, so this is the guy from the cryo-pod," Shepard nodded, "I must say you don't look much like and astronaut, little young aren't ya," said Garrus.

"I've been getting that a lot lately, and I'm 19. Anyways I'm John Desmond, you must be Garrus Vakarian, am I right?"

Surprised, or at least what John thought looked like surprise, "Umm yeah, that's me. Shepard must have told you about me, am I right," said Garrus.

"Yeah, taking on 3 of the galaxy's toughest gangs by yourself huh, Archangel. Very cool," replied John.

"Hey Garrus, you want to grab some lunch with me and John," asked Shepard.

"It's only been a day and you've already found a new best friend, I'm kinda hurt," Garrus and Shepard laughed and John chuckled a bit, "Thanks but I need to do some calibrations to the Normandy's new Thanix Cannons first, so go on without me," said Garrus.

"Alright, see you later, Garrus," replied Shepard.

* * *

><p>After eating some of Chef Gardner's calamari gumbo, the two began the wider tour of the ship; they headed up to the CIC where John met Kelly, who he found very nice and friendly.<p>

"You may want to talk to her about the dreams you told me about," said Shepard.

"Why would I talk to your personal assistant about the recurring dreams I've been having," John replied as he and Shepard headed towards the cockpit.

"Kelly is a certified psychologist and she could definitely help you," said Shepard.

"Well, I guess I can give it a shot. I don't have to pay her for the session do I, cause I'm kinda broke," said John.

"Don't worry, she won't charge you for anything," replied Shepard.

By that time they had gotten to the cockpit where Joker was listening to something that probably should have been going to his headset. Joker then turned around to see John and Shepard standing there with surprised looks on their faces, where he quickly shut off what he was doing and started to stammer an explanation.

"Oh uh umm that was supposed to go to my headset, sorry," Joker said with an awkward grin. "So uh Commander this is our astronaut huh, kinda..."

"Young yeah I've getting that a lot, I'm 19 for Christ's sake, and I was on that shuttle by accident," finished John.

"Someone's a little sensitive," Joker said.

"That's what she said," John replied.

Shepard and John burst out into laughter while Joker just looked at them with a confused expression which quickly turned into embarrassment.

"Sorry man, so you're the pilot of this ship," said John.

"Just one of my many functions I guess," Joker replied.

"_I do not understand Mr. Moreau as being the pilot of this ship is the only function you serve on this ship," said_ EDI as she appeared on her small pad.

"GAHHH, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT," yelled John.

"_Hello, Mr. Desmond. I am EDI or Enhanced Defense Intelligence. I run the cyber-warfare components of the Normandy,_" replied EDI.

"She is also a huge pain in the ass," said Joker.

Shepard rolled his eyes, while John continued to stare at EDI.

"Wow, a real artificial intelligence," he ran his hands through her holographic display, "Amazing, wait she isn't going to start singing Daisy is she."

Joker laughed a bit and said, "We all think it might happen someday,"

Then it was John's turn to laugh, when Shepard gestured him to tell him it was time to continue the tour and John nodded.

"Well time to go, nice meeting you Joker," said John.

"You too Joker Number 2," said Joker.

They both laughed one more time and John and Shepard went off to continue the tour.

* * *

><p>The two then headed off to the tech lab where John met Mordin Solus.<p>

"Ahh Shepard, I see the subject has been fully revived and there were no complications, strange process you humans have come up with, freezing yourselves in order to last longer. Almost like freezers in typical homes whereas humans are like the sticks of fish your kind keeps there, but enough of that good to see you're alright," said Mordin, his gaze pointed towards John.

John shot Shepard a "Is he always like this" look, to which Shepard shrugged, and said, "It's great to meet the man, er alien, er salarian, that helped saved my life Doctor Solus."

"Good to meet you too Mr. Desmond, I trust the Normandy has been to your liking," said Mordin.

"The amount of technology here is amazing; I never thought I would see something like this in my entire lifetime, and yet here I am," replied John.

"Yes, Normandy very advanced in design; most of latest technology is here on board, including this very well-stocked lab," said Mordin.

"Don't mean to sound rude, but must return to work on Collector swarm counter-measure, very important, talk later," said Mordin.

"Okay let's head to the armory John," said Shepard.

"Sure Shepard, nice talking to you Doctor Solus," said John.

"You too John Desmond," replied Mordin.

"That was nice, and weird," said John.

"Be lucky he had something to do," replied Shepard as they walked into the armory where Jacob was busy polishing the geth plasma shotgun.

"Hey Shepard, who's he kid," asked Jacob.

"Again with the young thing, I'm 19," said John.

"So where did he come from," asked Jacob again.

Shepard explained to Jacob what had happened; finding the shuttle, John's extraction and reanimation, and John's story of what happened.

Jacob let out a whistle, "Damn, that's messed up right there."

"Yep, 174 years. So you run the armory huh," John said.

"Yep, check out some of our weapons," said Jacob.

He then proceeded to show John the assortment of pistols, SMG's, sniper rifles, shotguns, assault rifles, and various heavy weapons in the armory.

"Wow, you could outfit a small army with this kind of tech, there is only one problem though. This missile launcher here," said John.

"What," asked Jacob.

"Do you have any more of those Phalanx Heavy Pistols," asked John.

"Uh yeah, right here," said Jacob handing John one.

John took it and disassembled it, earning a gasp out of Jacob, taking out the target light emitter.

"Sniper scopes," John asked in a questioning tone.

Jacob handed him a spare and John attached a few spare wires lying around to the target light emitter.

"Do you have a wireless transmitter," John asked.

"Uh yeah right here," Jacob said as he pulled one out of a spare parts bin he kept for weapon repair.

John then attached the transmitter to the side of the rocket launcher and attach the wires on the target light emitter to the transmitter, then proceeded to remove the rear lens in the scope and move the target light emitter inside the now open scope. Finally he attached the scope to the missile launcher, calibrated the wireless transmitter, and then he set it down on the table.

"Alright, the mod is complete," said John.

"What did you do to it," Jacob asked with a bit of awe in his voice.

"Added a remote target system. You see; all you have to do is aim it at a target, press this red button, and no matter where the target hides, the missile will seek it," said John.

"So I just paint a target and the missile will arc towards the target, even if they're hiding behind cover," said Shepard picking up the modified missile launcher.

"Yep," replied John.

"Wow, where did you learn how to do that," asked Jacob.

"I had a part-time job repairing guns at a weapon store back when I went to college in the 21st Century. Combined with my knowledge in Mechanical Engineering made creating this remote targeting system a breeze," said John, "However, if I'm going to be put to work in order to stay, I'd much rather just work in engineering, sort of moral reasons I guess."

Shepard decided not to question his reasons and said, "Alright John, I understand. We may need to put the tour on hold until we call a meeting and introduce you to the crew."

"Fair enough, I'm kinda tired of explaining my story to everyone," replied John.

* * *

><p>The crew had gathered in the mess hall all in conversation about what the meeting was about. The only people who knew or had a vague idea were the people who John was introduced too today. The sounds of chatter were hushed as the Commander stepped forward.<p>

"I know you are all probably wondering why I called this meeting," said Shepard, "The reason is simple, a few hours ago Joker found something that hasn't been seen in almost 2 centuries, a pre mass-relay Earth space shuttle."

"From galactic archives we found out that the shuttle contained 6 people who were cryogenically frozen as part of a secret government project to find life in the universe known as Project Archimedes," Shepard continued, "Unfortunately, when a team consisting of me, Garrus, and Mordin, went to the shuttle, we found that when the ship lost primary power, 5 of the pods stopped working, causing 5 of the brave souls who were on that ship to die from lack of oxygen."

The crew, except for Garrus and Mordin, all drew a collective gasp. Jacob, Chakwas, Joker, and Kelly, who had not been told that part of the story, gasped as well.

"Luckily we managed to bring back one of the pods and saved the life of the one person still alive on the craft, and since he will be staying on the Normandy until further notice, I'd like him to come out, introduce himself, and tell you all his story," finished Shepard.

Just as he finished John walked out, "Hello there everyone, my name is John Desmond, and like Commander Shepard has told you, I'm from the year 2011," said John.

The crowd uproared again, until, "Wait a minute, this bloody kid is the guy you saved," said Zaeed.

After hearing that comment again for the umpteenth time today, John simply rolled his eyes and told them all the story of how he had ended up in the shuttle, from the start of that day, to the delivery, to the attack by the yellow-eyed man, and finally being cryogenically frozen for 174 years. All the while having to stop when one of the crew members asked about something, like what a subway is, occasionally. By the end, the crew all looked at him with shock in their eyes.

To break the tension, Shepard stepped forward and said, "There is the situation. Since he has nowhere to go, I'd like him to stay on the Normandy. He has requested to work in Engineering, so Kenneth, Gabby, tomorrow I want you two to help introduce John to the Normandy's systems.

Kenneth nodded excitedly, hoping that he would have a chance to learn about technology from the 21st century, as did Gabby, who was excited to get to know the new guy. However one person didn't seem to like the idea, at least her scowl said that to John.

"Commander, as your second-in-command I refuse to allow a frat-boy to work on the engines of Cerberus's ship," said Miranda.

John was actually expecting something like this, so he was about to speak until Jacob spoke up instead.

"Miranda, this "frat-boy" built a remote targeting system for the ML-77 out of spare parts I keep around for weapon repairs. Hell this guy is probably almost on par with quarians when it comes to tech skill."

The crew looked at John with surprise, to which John shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's no big deal, I just came up with the idea when I saw the target light on the Phalanx Heavy Pistol."

"Be that as it may," Miranda spoke again, "This is a serious mission, and we have no time for babysitting."

"And I'm not a baby. Look if it's too much of an inconvenience I can just get off this ship at the next port, but if the only reason you want me to leave is because you think I can't handle this, then let me tell you what's what. I'm tougher than you think, and if can help in any way, I'm willing to contribute, but don't stand there and tell me a bunch of bull about how young I am. I lived for years on my own, I can handle myself," replied John.

Miranda looked shocked as did the rest of the crew. No one talked back to the XO before, and no one actually lived to tell the tale.

"If anyone else has any objections, speak up now," said John.

Miranda looked like she was about to launch another tirade, but a sharp glare from Shepard shut her up. The other crew were still shocked, so none of them spoke up.

"Good," said John, "Now how about we all get some dinner, anyone else hungry," he finished, dropping the serious look and tone he used earlier.

"I'd call that a good idea Desmond," said Garrus.

* * *

><p>The conference room contained 2 people at this time, Miranda and The Illusive Man in a hologram, where Miranda was busy telling The Illusive Man about their new crew member.<p>

"This is interesting, a man from the 21st century," said The Illusive Man.

"Shepard also seems to trust him, maybe we can use this to our advantage," said Miranda.

"What interests me more however, is this attack by the yellow-eyed man. It appears the Reapers and Collectors have been monitoring humanity for far longer than we initially thought, this deserves investigation," said The Illusive Man.

Miranda looked up in surprise, she hadn't thought of that. Could the Collectors have really been monitoring humanity before they had even found the mass relays?

"I'll have a team look into this, in the meantime how goes your plan of seducing Shepard," the Illusive Man asked.

"Things are not going well so far, but I'm genetically perfect, there is no way Shepard can resist me much longer," replied Miranda.

Miranda had suggested to the Illusive Man that she try a "honey-pot" in order to convince Shepard to leave the Alliance and come to Cerberus. So far things weren't going well but Miranda was so narcissistic that she believed her genetic perfection would win in the end.

"Keep me posted, and keep an eye on this John Desmond, from the story I heard his technical skills could be an asset to us," replied The Illusive Man.

He then ended the transmission and took a slow drag from his cigarette; he had a lot to think about.

* * *

><p>(Author's Note)<p>

Finally, after almost a week I finished the 4th Chapter (counting the prologues)

Sorry about the wait, my brother has been hogging the computer, I've had school, and I've been trying to follow my reviewers' advice of making chapters longer (which unfortunately means that the next chapter won't be up for a while)

Luckily however, winter break has started and I'm starting on the next chapter soon.

Thank You to all who have read and subscribed to my first story!

Please R/R


	5. Chapter 3: Orientation and Council

**The Cryonic Man**

Chapter 3: Orientation and Council

A bit of foreword  
>This is my first story so please no flames.<br>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).  
>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create<p>

_Italics stand for thoughts and voices over an intercom_

* * *

><p>One week after his introduction, John still found himself amazed at all the changes to his life. After dinner that day Shepard assigned him a small room on Deck 3. It was a small room with a bed, an alarm clock, a small dresser containing a couple shirts and blue jeans, and an unexpected present. Just like Shepard said, he found a small device, "<em>what was it called oh yeah, an Omni-tool<em>," thought John.

A holographic orange display lit up the small room like a lamp, with John tinkering with it to see how it worked. He found out how to look up information on the extranet, which was strangely similar to the internet of his time, how to use the various interfaces as tools, he even looked up how to use it in combat situations, such as A.I. Hacking and Combat Drones, which he resolved to build one himself if he could get the components.

The next day he was up early so he could be ready for work. He took a shower at the crew deck men's showers, dried off, put on one of the shirts and a pair of jeans; he had resolved to not wear a Cerberus uniform after seeing them, which Miranda complained about but Shepard was completely fine with; had a bit of breakfast, said hello to Mess Sergeant Gardner, and set off for the elevator to the engineering deck.

After arriving he walked into the drive core room, and found it strangely empty. He sat down and waited for about an hour, during which he was still working to transfer the files from his MP3 player to his Omni-tool, when Kenneth walked in looking a little disheveled and a smile big enough to be seen from space.

"Rough night," John said in a joking tone. He picked up on what Kenneth's body language had said and it said that he spent his night with some company. (Anyone else get it yet?)

Kenneth looked at John with some surprise which turned into embarrassment.

"Oh John, umm ahh err," Kenneth said trying to come up with an excuse.

"It's okay man, I know what you did, I can tell from your look," John said, and after seeing fear appear in Kenneth's eyes, "Don't worry, your secret is safe," he said in a soothing tone.

"Anyways, John Desmond ready to receive orders sir," said John.

"It's alright lad, no need for all that formal crap. Just call me Kenneth, and how long have you been here anyway," replied Kenneth.

"About an hour, I was busy transferring some files to my new Omni-tool. Why do you ask," replied John.

"Wow, only in this century for 1 ½ days and you already know how to program one of those blasted things. Well lad, you're about 3 hours early," said Kenneth.

"Well I don't really have much else to do, so I just decided to get an early start," said John. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. He was still having the dreams he had back in the 21st century, only they had grown in intensity and length somewhat.

"Well anyways, today me and Gabby are just going to help you get acquainted with the Normandy's systems. You won't be doing anything major yet, but you will be helping with calibrations and routine maintenance, just to start out with to get used to the new technology of the 22nd century. But from what I heard that shouldn't take too long," said Kenneth.

"Sounds good Kenneth, should we wait a bit for Gabby or should we just get started now," said John.

Kenneth turned red again and said, "Umm, Gabby won't be down for a while so if you're ready now we can get started."

Just then, the door opened to reveal a disheveled Gabby wiping sleep from her eyes.

"Last night was amazing Kenneth but did you have to be so roooooo," she finished after noticing John was in the room with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Oh um John, umm this umm, I didn't mean err," Gabby said.

John gave a light chuckle and said, "Kenneth walked in looking like he had a rough night and had a smile that could be seen from space. I can pretty much guess what happened mam."

Gabby turned red and was about to say something until John continued, "Don't worry, I won't tell," Gabby breathed a sigh of relief, "but you guys have to do something for me," both Kenneth and Gabby paled.

"Don't worry, it's nothing major, I just need to know if you guys have any spare parts lying around. I like tinkering and building things when I have some spare time and I need some components," finished John.

The two lovers both breathed another sigh of relief and Gabby replied, "Thanks John."

"Alright let's get started," said John.

For the next 3 days, Kenneth and Donnelly taught John the ins and outs of the Normandy while John told them what they wanted to know about the 21st century. Kenneth was especially fascinated with John's MP3 Player and John frequently found him humming The Beatles and Elton John (Don't be hating). True to what Kenneth said, John had learned the systems fast. Between keeping the Normandy maintained and his side projects of building mods for weapons for Jacob, helping Dr. Chakwas in the med center as thanks for keeping him alive, and building contraptions, the crew was surprised he had any free time at all. Yet he still ate meals with the rest of the crew and generally chatted with everyone, making friends with everyone, well except for Miranda who generally acted cold towards him. She hated the fact that he had become such good friends with Shepard, who viewed John almost like the little brother he never had, and constantly thwarted her plots to seduce Shepard.

Regardless, John was happy to meet so many new people. The only problem was that the dreams he was having had begun to cause him to lose sleep. He tried to shrug it off and it mostly worked at least until one week later.

"Hey John, are you alright? You don't look so good," Gabby said.

"Don't worry Gabby, I'm fine," replied John with a yawn.

"She's right lad, I think you need to lie down," said Kenneth.

"It's alright, I just haven't slept very well in a while," John said.

John tried to stay on his feet but all of a sudden he blacked out and fell to the floor.

"Oh god, Kenneth, go get Doctor Chakwas," yelled Gabby in a concerned and shocked tone.

"On it lass," replied Kenneth with the same sense of urgency.

* * *

><p><em>8 hours later<em>

John opened his eyes slowly and felt a small haze appear in his vision. He got up slowly and rubbed his eyes.

"Back again are you?"

John turned and saw Doctor Chakwas sitting in a chair.

"You gave us all a scare you know," said Doctor Chakwas.

"What happened," asked John.

"What happened was you became so sleep deprived that you collapsed from exhaustion," explained Doctor Chakwas.

"Well I've had some trouble sleeping the past few days," replied John.

"The dreams you had back in 2011 are still persisting," Chakwas asked. She had known about the dreams after John had told her his story. "Didn't the Commander tell you to see Miss Chambers?"

"Yeah well, I haven't had much time lately," John replied.

"Well you march right to the CIC and ask her for an appointment young man," said Chakwas in a stern tone.

"Yes mom," John replied.

* * *

><p><em>Later on Deck 2<em>

"Umm Miss Chambers, do you have a second," John asked.

"Sure John, and please call me Kelly," replied Kelly.

"I was wondering, the Commander said you were a psychologist and I was wondering if I could talk to you about a few things," John said.

"Sure, how bout we had to the starboard observation deck on Deck 3 and talk," replied Kelly.

_Later on Deck 3 (wow this chapter jumps around a lot huh)_

* * *

><p>John met Kelly at the starboard observation, where he began telling her about the dreams.<p>

"So in these dreams you only hear voices, yours and this mysterious woman, Lia you say," said Kelly after John finished his tale.

"Yeah, and all I hear is just a conversation. It feels so real though, even more real than before, like I'm watching a memory," replied John.

"And you're sure you don't know this girl," Kelly asked.

"Positive, which is weird because my heart flutters for some reason when I hear her voice, but hearing the sadness in her voice, it breaks my heart," replied John.

"I need some time to think this over, in the meantime try not to do any strenuous work for the next couple days," said Kelly.

She then walked out and walked over to Commander Shepard standing near the door.

"How is he Kelly," Shepard asked.

"I've never heard of dreams like these before, he truly believes they've actually happened. My advice is to have him off the ship for just a short while. You said you were going to the Citadel to see the council, right," said Kelly.

"Right," replied Shepard.

"Well, take John with you, it might help clear his head to be off the ship for a while," said Kelly.

Shepard thought this over and realized that it might be a good idea. John had only been on the Normandy for a week, but it was probably a good idea for him to actually see the changes that had happened in the last almost two centuries than have people tell him about them, plus he would rather his new friend not burn out from sleep deprivation.

"Alright sounds good," said Shepard.

Shepard left to think, and Kelly went off to find Garrus.

"Hey sexy, doing some calibrations," said Kelly.

"Yeah, but it can wait," said Garrus, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

John was sitting in his room fiddling with the drone he was building after Kenneth and Gabby told him to take the day off after the incident yesterday. He had managed to get a pretty good nap in, and after that he ate lunch, where everyone constantly asked him if he was alright. He calibrated the modifications for the weapons that he had built for Jacob after lunch, and was now working on his drone

He activated it with his Omni-tool only for it to short out and die again.

"Come on you fricken bastard, work," John said with frustration in his voice.

"Working hard or hardly working," said a voice from behind.

"Oh ah Commander, um I was just on my way back to engineering," John stammered out.

"It's alright, Gabby and Kenneth told me they gave you the day off," replied Shepard.

Seeing the fear in his eyes from the thought that he might have gotten his mentors in trouble, "Don't worry, I was the one who told them to do it in the first place," said Shepard.

John breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Anyways, what's up Shepard?"

"Kelly told me about the problem you've been having," said Shepard.

"Man, hasn't that woman ever heard of doctor-patient confidentiality," John said.

They both shared a laugh and Shepard continued, "She suggested to me an idea which I found interesting. I have a meeting with the Galactic Council in a couple days to talk about my resurrection. She suggested I take you with me and give you a chance to get off the ship and explore the Citadel."

"Hmm, I have been going a little stir crazy, and it might give me an opportunity to find some parts for my drone. Sure Shepard, I'll come along," answered John.

"Fantastic, I'll give you some credits after the meeting is over and then we'll hit the Zakera Ward," said Shepard.

"Cool, see you later Shepard," said John who went back to work on his drone.

It quickly shorted out again when he tried to turn it on.

"DAMMIT," he cried.

After his day off, John quickly got back to work in engineering the next day, despite the concerns from Kenneth and Gabby. Yet when it came clear that John wasn't going to take no for an answer, they told him to be careful and got back to work.

John spent the next few days working, fixing hydraulics, calibrating systems, and general tinkering until the day came when the Normandy docked at the Citadel. He then put on a formal uniform that Shepard had lent him, and met Shepard and Garrus at the airlock. After the incident, Shepard told Garrus about his plan which Garrus agreed to wholeheartedly.

"Well you clean up good Desmond," Garrus joked.

"Well if I'm going to be there for your guys' meeting, I can't dress in a shirt and jeans can I," replied John.

The two men shared a laugh and the group set off for the council office.

They first stopped and recruited Kasumi (more with her later). And then moved on to the C-Sec security checkpoint.

* * *

><p><em>A short time later<em>

After a short debacle with security, the group had taken a taxi to the Presidium, where Shepard was meeting the council.

As they travelled, John looked at the marvel known as the Citadel. Even though parts of it were still being rebuilt, John still marveled at the technological marvel of this space station.

They docked at the Presidium, which John found himself amazed at the amazing garden and houses, and walked into Councilor Anderson's office.

"This meeting would be more productive if Udina were to join us," the asari councilor said.

"My advisor is unavailable. As Councilor, I represent the voice of humanity," said Anderson, "Shepard will be here any – oh Commander. We were just talking about you."

"It's been a long time Anderson. I hope the last couple years have treated you right," said Shepard.

"There've been some rough spots. Good to have you back," said Anderson, "And Vakarian, nice to see you too."

"Good to be back sir," replied Garrus.

"This must be the man you found in the old 21st century shuttle. Councilor David Anderson," Anderson said holding out his hand.

"John Desmond, nice to meet you Councilor," John said shaking his hand.

"Ah yes, the 21st century. A period of time which took place between the year 2000 and 2099. I thought we dismissed that claim," said the turian councilor.

"Anyways, the council has heard a lot about you through Anderson, Mr. Desmond, it is good to see you are unharmed," said the asari councilor.

"Glad to finally meet the governing body of the galaxy ever since my cryogenic freezing," John said, bowing slightly as a show of respect.

"Ahem, getting back to the reason why we called this meeting," said the salarian councilor, "Commander, we have heard many rumors about you're unexpected return. Some of them are…. unsettling."

"We have called this meeting so you could explain your actions Shepard. We owe you that much. After all, you saved our lives in the battle against Saren and the geth," the asari continued.

"The Collectors are abducting human colonists in the Terminus Systems. Worse, we think they're working with the Reapers," said Shepard.

"The Terminus System is beyond our jurisdiction. Your colonists knew that when they left Council space," said the turian councilor.

"Hundreds of thousands of humans are kidnapped by a race of insect-like beings for who knows what, and you aren't going to do anything about it," John said with a bit of anger in his voice.

"They are outside of our jurisdiction," the turian councilor with a bit of annoyance in his tone.

"Does it matter, these people could be dead for all we know. How can you be so….," said John with more anger rising in him that the governing body of most of the galaxy was doing nothing to save hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, and possibly more, that might be facing something more terrible than death. They only thing that stopped him was Garrus putting his hand on John's shoulder and shaking his head with a look that said "It's not worth it."

"Sorry, I lost my temper. I humbly apologize to all of you," said John with a calm tone.

"This council accepts your apology Mr. Desmond," said the salarian councilor.

"You're missing the point Councilors. The Reapers are involved," said Anderson.

"Ah yes, Reapers. The immortal race of sentient starships allegedly waiting in dark space. We have dismissed that claim," said the turian councilor.

John turned to Garrus and said, "Is that all he does?"

"Yep, real credit to my race right there," replied Garrus.

Anderson turned to Shepard and said, "Shepard, no one else encountered the hologram on Ilos that told you the truth about the Reapers. Only you and your crew ever spoke with Sovereign."

"I believe you," continued Anderson.

"As do I," said John.

"But without evidence from another source, the others think Saren was behind the geth attacks," finished Anderson.

"Saren was an organic. The geth would never accept him as their leader. They only followed him because he was Sovereign's agent," said Shepard to the Council.

"Saren was a compelling and charismatic individual. He convinced the geth the Reapers were real… just as he convinced you," said the Asari councilor.

"It was part of his plan to attack the Citadel. The Reapers are a myth. One you insist on perpetuating," said the turian councilor.

"With all due respect Councilors," John started, "I've seen how these geth work by studying their systems. No amount of charisma could convince them of something unless there was logic and truth behind it. The geth are not simple machines, they have complex ways of making decisions, ways we can't even imagine, technology which could tell if he was lying, and intelligence beyond most sentient life. They couldn't have believed him if he was not telling the truth."

"Ah yes, we are going to mobilize our military based on the findings of a human child who hasn't been in our century for longer than two weeks," said the turian councilor, "We aren't fools Desmond and we are not going to do anything based on the findings of a 19 year old.

John felt his anger rise again but said nothing.

"That's enough, you can insult me all you want but you're not going to insult my friend, who probably has almost as much technological knowledge as most quarians. I won't let you white-wash this, especially after I kept this Council alive by sacrificing human lives to save you from Saren," said Shepard

"We are in a difficult position Shepard. You are working for Cerberus – an avowed enemy of the Council. This is treason, a capital offense," said the asari councilor.

"That's too far. Shepard is a hero. I'm on this Council too, and I won't let this whitewash continue," said Anderson.

"Maybe there is a compromise. Not a public acknowledgement, given your ties, but something to show our peripheral support," said the asari councilor.

"Shepard, if you keep a low profile and restrict your operations to the Terminus Systems, the Council is willing to offer your reinstatement as a Spectre," said the turian councilor, with a bit of annoyance that said he was never for it.

"What does that mean? Will I have to start filing reports again," said Shepard.

"That won't be necessary. This is simply a show of good faith, on our part," said the salarian councilor, hoping to not incite anything more. Unlike his other two brethren the salarian councilor secretly believed and respected Shepard. Yet, he could not support him openly due to the fact none of the other councilors listened to him.

"We cannot become involved in an investigation regarding the missing colonies in the Terminus Systems, but Spectre reinstatement shows our support of you personally," said the asari councilor.

Shepard looked at Anderson, who nodded, and said, "I accept your offer. It's good to have the Council on my side."

"Good luck with your investigation Shepard. We hope for a quick resolution… and a quick end to your relationship with Cerberus," finished the asari councilor.

"Well that went better than expected," said Anderson, "You do realize that the Council's offer is purely symbolic. They won't actually do anything."

"Even if they don't help, I might as well stay on good terms," said Shepard.

"True enough. Don't worry about the Council or the Alliance. I'll find some way to keep them off your back," said Anderson.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper Shepard, I just became so angry that I just," John started.

"It's alright John, that turian pisses me off as well," said Shepard.

All 4 men shared a laugh until Ambassador Udina walked in.

"Anderson, we need to talk about – Shepard! What are you doing here?"

"Stopped by to see how Anderson is doing," replied Shepard.

"You don't have to cover for me," said Anderson, "I invited Shepard here to speak with the Council. We just finished our meeting."

"You what? Councilor, do the words political-s&*#storm mean anything to you," said Udina.

"The Council just reinstated my Spectre status. They're just happy I'm staying out in the Terminus systems," said Shepard.

"Yes… I could see how that arrangement works best for both sides," said Udina, "But you really shouldn't have taken a step like this without consulting with me first Councilor."

"I don't answer to you, Udina. Why don't you go to your office and think about that for a while," said Anderson.

"Of course, Councilor. Good day to all of you," Udina said with frustration.

"Come on John, let's let the Commander and Councilor chat for a while while we head to Zakera Ward," said Garrus.

"Sure Garrus, see you later Shepard," said John, and he and Garrus left Shepard and Anderson to talk about recent events.

* * *

><p>Author's Note<p>

Thanks to all who reviewed my first story as well as favoriting my story and me as an author. And also thanks to Thousand Tailed Holy Flashfang for welcoming me to the holy order of Awesome writers.

Hope to see more reviews. The next chapter will introduce some more characters, as well as build relationships. Miranda will be bitchier than Jack at some points so some characters will be a little OOC.

Possible pairings

You know who John will be with  
>ShepardTali  
>JacobKasumi  
>KellyGarrus  
>KennethGabby  
>JokerEDI (just for fun)

More TBD

**HUGE WARNING! The story will probably be upgraded to M-rated due to sexual themes, lemons, and foul language since I will be introducing Jack soon.**


	6. Chapter 4:  A Damsel in Distress

**The Cryonic Man**  
>Chapter 4: A Damsel in Distress<p>

A bit of foreword  
>This is my first story so please no flames.<br>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).  
>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create<p>

_Italics stand for thoughts and voices over an intercom_

* * *

><p>After Garrus and John left, they got in a taxi and headed to Zakera Ward. Once there Garrus gave him 10000 credits and the two talked a bit.<p>

"Okay, if you head by a lounge, do you think you could try to find a bottle of Serrice-Ice Brandy? Doctor Chakwas said she had one in her private stores in the original Normandy. I was hoping to get a bottle for her as a present," said John.

"Heh heh heh, sure I'll try to find a bottle for your girlfriend," Garrus joked.

"Naw too old for me, she sort of reminds me of my mom before she died," John said with a bit of sadness in his voice.

Garrus stopped laughing and had a look of sadness on his face when he realized he had touched a sensitive subject.

"Hey man, sorry, I didn't mean," Garrus started.

"It's alright, you did make a pretty good joke," said John.

The two men shared a light laugh and went their separate ways.

* * *

><p>Garrus took a look around C-Sec and went by the Dark Star Lounge. John on the other hand went on an explore and took a look at some of the shops. He stopped by the café to grab some more supplies for Mess Sergeant Gardner, he went to the souvenir store and purchased a couple books and some model ships, and headed down to Level 26 to see about some parts for his drone.<p>

He headed into a shop and talked to the store owner.

"Hey there, I'm looking for some spare parts," said John.

"Anything you're looking for specifically," said the asari shopkeeper.

"Just some general parts if you have any. Specifically I'm looking for some parts for a drone," said John

"Alright then, let's take a look," said the asari.

After buying the parts and securing their delivery to the Normandy, he was about to leave, until he heard an argument going on.

"You know what quarians are like, Hoh. They take anything not welded to the deck, Hoh," he heard a volus say.

"Sir I'm going to have to ask you to calm down," said a C-Sec Officer.

John walked up and asked, "Is something the matter here?"

"I'm sorry, I'm trying to take a statement here," said the Officer.

"There's nothing to talk about, Hoh. She stole my credit chit, Hoh. Arrest her," said the volus.

"I did not! Just because I'm a quarian-," said a quarian girl whose voice sounded awfully familiar to John.

"I need you to stop and take a deep breath," the officer said to the volus.

"You're mocking, Hoh, me, Hoh, Earth-clan, Hoh! Just because the Vol-clan need, Hoh," said the volus.

"It was a poor choice of words sir, I apologize," said the officer.

John turned to the quarian girl and asked, "You say you're falsely accused?"

"I was walking to the used ship dealer when he barged into me outside of Sirta Foundation. He didn't stop or say sorry," the quarian girl told him, causing him to level a sharp look at the volus which made him back up a bit.

"A minute later, he runs up with C-Sec and accuses me of stealing his credit chit," the quarian girl continued.

"Is it possible that the chit fell out of his pocket when he bumped into you," asked John.

"I guess, all I know is I didn't steal it," said the quarian.

John turned to the officer and said, "I'll see if I can find out what happened."

"Sir, this is a C-Sec matter. We'll do all we-," the officer started.

"Hoh, Bah!," said the volus.

"All we can to resolve this. We don't need civilian help. If you do happen to find the chit, please let one of the officers know," finished the officer with a hint of annoyance in his voice about having to deal with this volus.

"I'll be right back," John said.

He then walked over to a store with a sign that said Saronis Applications and talked to the salarian clerk.

"Hello sir, what can I do for you," said the salarian.

"Did a volus come here and accidently drop a credit chit," John asked the clerk.

"Yes, actually. If you see him can you tell him we're holding it for him here," the clerk replied.

"Thank you," said John.

He walked over back to the trio where the officer told him, "Please move along."

John turned to the volus with malice in his eyes and said, "This woman didn't steal your credit chit, you dropped it in Saronis Applications. The clerk told me he's holding it for you."

"Hoh, Oh, Hoh, well, Hoh. The quarian could have stolen it," the volus stammered out, embarrassed.

"I'll close this event report. But I'll be watching you. Get a permanent residence, or I'll run you in for vagrancy," the officer said.

At that point John just snapped. After seeing so many blatant displays of racism, he was angry. No not angry, furious.

He walked forward and said, "Are you two serious?"

The volus said, "Hoh, WHAT?"

He pushed the volus down and said with anger, "You falsely accused this girl of stealing from you. And now that you've been proven wrong, you attempt to justify what you did by saying she "could have stolen it?"

"Now listen here, Hoh, this is assault," said the volus.

John then turned to the C-Sec officer, grabbed him by the collar, and said, "And you. This woman gets harassed, and you do nothing to help. You're an officer of the law, you're supposed to protect the people's right and all you did was falsely accuse her of vagrancy. It's people like you that make me sick."

"Back off or I will charge you with obstruction of justice," the officer said.

"Do it and I talk to Captain Bailey about what happened here. I had a bit of a chat with him before coming down here. He told me how much he hates racism and how it gives C-Sec a bad name. You try to falsely charge this woman, I'll have your badge, got it," said John.

The officer picked then snapped and punched John.

"Listen you little sh%*. This is my ward and you're not going to take it from me," said the officer.

He then proceeded to unleash hell on John until he had a several scratches, bruises, a bloody nose, and a black eye. The quarian woman tried to save the man who helped her but was quickly knocked down by the officer. At that point John began to fight back with his own fists until the officer grabbed him by the throat and began choking him at least till another man showed up behind him.

"Let the man go officer," said Shepard.

"Oh you have a friend, well that just makes this a lot more fun," said the officer while cracking his knuckles.

"You think you can take down a Spectre," said Shepard.

The officer's eyes widened, and narrowed and picked up the volus, then left muttering something under his breath.

Shepard helped John up and he dusted himself off.

The volus turned to John and said, "This isn't over Earth-clan."

John rolled his eyes and the volus walked away. Then he turned to the woman, softened, smiled, helped her up, and said, "Are you alright miss?"

"I should be asking you that you bosh'tet," the girl said, "Why the hell did you do that for me?"

"Simple, you were in trouble, and I helped you," John said with a goofy smile.

"You insane, stupid, idiotic, guh you could have gotten killed," the woman said, and then softened somewhat, "But, thanks for standing up for me."

"I'll be on the Normandy when you're done with the girlfriend," Shepard joked.

John and the woman looked at each other and blushed.

"Umm, so what's your name," said John.

"Uh, Lia, Lia'Vael," said Lia.

"Nice to meet you Lia, I'm John, John Desmond," said John.

"To answer your question, yes I'm alright," said Lia, shuffling her feet, "Um, are you alright?"

"Um, yeah, that officer couldn't throw a punch at all. So can you take care of yourself from here," said John feeling awkward.

"Yeah, I wish I could give you something more than just words, though," said Lia.

"Don't worry about it. Are things rough here," John asked.

"Well yeah, I… I came here thinking there would be a lot of work, but it seems no one wants to hire a quarian. Most nights I just eat nutrient paste in a turian shelter, but I'm getting by," said Lia.

John felt his heart break at this, "Is this what it's like for quarians?"

"Yeah, where have you been for the last 100 years," Lia replied.

John smilied, gave a light chuckle, and said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

She laughed a bit too, which John found cute, and said, "Well I won't take up anymore of your time."

She started to leave when John stopped her and said, "Maybe I'm a bit of a softie, but are you on pilgrimage right now."

Surprised, she said, "Yes, how did you know?"

"I have a friend that told me all about quarian culture. But that's not the point. I serve on an interstellar frigate as part of the crew. You already met my Commanding officer," Lia was surprised that this man served under a Spectre, but said noting while he continued, "Well, how would you like to come with us? You could be paid for your work, and have more places to search for a pilgrimage gift."

"Well, um I don't know, um can I have some time to think about it," replied Lia.

"Sure, we're actually going to be docked for a few days while we resupply and the crew gets a little shore leave. If you like I can come by the shelter, get you, and you can have a look around the ship for yourself one of the days we are here," said John rubbing the back of his head.

"Sure it's a date," said Lia, though after realizing what she said, "Err I mean that sounds nice, sounds like a nice day, Heh Heh."

"Oh uh yeah sounds great," said John, "Well, I better get going, hope to see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too," said Lia.

* * *

><p>"Well, looks who's finally back," said Shepard after John walked through the airlock, "Did you enjoy your time with your girlfriend?"<p>

"Uhh err she's not guhh," John stammered out.

"It's alright, I know. What happened to cause that fight anyway," asked Shepard.

John then explained to Shepard what happened, from purchasing the spare parts for his drone, to walking by the argument, to finding the volus' credit chit, to losing his temper from the way the C-Sec officer and the volus treated Lia, to threatening the C-Sec officer with the loss of his job, and finally to the fight.

By the end of the story Shepard's fist were clenched and had a look of anger on his face. Not anger at John, but anger at the way the woman was mistreated simply because of her race, and by an officer of the law no less. Regardless, he felt a sense of pride in John for standing up for someone he didn't even know.

"Um anyways, I was wondering how long we would be staying here on the Citadel," said John.

"Well we need to resupply and refuel, as well as giving the crew some time to relax, so I would say about four days. Why, going to spend time with your new girlfriend," said Shepard with a mischievous smile.

"Actually yes, I invited her to come with us, and to come by and see the ship some time," said John with a smile on his face and his arms crossed.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," said Shepard.

"Okay, Dad," said John.

They both shared a laugh and John said, "So, are you okay with her joining us, well if she says yes?"

Shepard considered it for a moment. On the one hand he wasn't sure if they needed more engineers on the ship, then again it might be nice for Tali to have someone to talk to.

"As your commanding officer, you should have asked for my permission before recruiting an unknown person," said Shepard, which caused John's face to fall, "But, we could always need some new talent in Engineering."

This caused to John's face to light up and then he said, "Thanks Commander, well it's getting late, I should head off to bed."

"Night John," said Shepard.

John walked by Garrus and Kelly plus the rest of the crew then pressed the button to the Deck 3.

Garrus walked over to Shepard and asked, "What's got him in such a good mood?"

Shepard then told him about the argument John broke up, followed by the fight he had with a C-Sec officer, and so on and so forth.

"I can't believe how corrupt C-Sec has become," Garrus said with anger, "But, I'm glad John stood up for that woman, never thought a human would stand up for a quarian like that. Then again, John's been in this century for only 2 weeks so he hasn't really had any time to develop any prejudices."

"Maybe she's just the person he's been looking for to make this century home," said Shepard.

The two men smiled at the idea and went their separate ways. Shepard to his quarters and Garrus to see Kelly, and then down to Deck 3 to do some calibrations.

* * *

><p>Lia sat down in her bunk and reflected on the day, from walking by the used ship dealership again, to being accused of thievery by that stupid volus, to being rescued by that man John.<p>

John. A human. A human who defended her, a quarian. Humans she had met before had always treated her as a second-class citizen, a pimple on the face of the galaxy. But John had defended her, even though he barely knew her, and invited her to serve on a military vessel, to serve under a kind Spectre, and find a Pilgrimage gift that would impress everyone back on the Migrant Fleet.

"_Why_?"

That question was on the forefront of her mind. Humans, as well as the rest of the universe, hated quarians, viciously. Yet, John had been so nice to her, and asked for nothing in return. Under her mask, she found herself smiling at the memory of today.

"Lia, Lia, LIA!"

"Huh, oh hey Kara," said Lia, after being shaken out of her musings.

"Yeah, hey. I was just asking if you found any work yet," said Lia's friend, Kara'Zorel.

"No, same thing as always. No quarians, quarians not wanted, et cetera et cetera," replied Lia, "I also was nearly arrested by a volus who thought I stole his credit chit. Though the weirdest thing happened, a human actually defended me."

"What," said Kara in surprise and disbelief.

"Yeah a human named John Desmond found the volus' credit chit and defended me when the volus and C-Sec officer tried to shift the blame to me, he actively defended me. When things smoothed over, he didn't ask for anything in return. He just said he saw I was in trouble, and he wanted to help. He was so nice to me," replied Lia.

"Sounds like someone has a crush," said Kara in a teasing tone.

"What no, I don't, umm," said Lia, while blushing under her mask.

"Riiiiiight, so are you going to see him again," Kara asked.

"Yeah, he invited me to come with him as part of a crew of an interstellar spaceship. He serves under a Council Spectre, who helped break up a fight between the C-Sec officer and John when the officer attacked John for threatening his job for harassing me," said Lia.

"Be careful girlfriend, the more you talk about him, the more I want to steal him from you," the two women shared a laugh and Kara continued, "So what did you tell him?"

"I told him…I told him I needed some time before I decide," said Lia, avoiding her friend's gaze.

"What did he say then," asked Kara.

"He said that was alright since the ship was going to be docked for a few days while they resupply and the crew gets some shore leave. He said he would come by and get me sometime so I could see the ship. I don't know, do you think I should do it," said Lia.

"Well, you said the ship will be docked will be docked for a few days, right? Why don't you see the ship first, and then decide," replied Kara.

Lia considered this and decided that her friend was right.

"And maybe you can spend some more time with your new boyfriend," Kara said in a teasing tone.

"HE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND," yelled Lia.

"Night Lia," said Kara after a light laugh.

The two quarians fell asleep in their bunks with Lia contemplating what would happen tomorrow, at least until Lia heard that there was a new message on her omni-tool. She opened her mail and saw that it was a message from John.

_Hey, remember me. That idiot from today._

_I was wondering if you would be alright with me coming by tomorrow, so you can come look at the ship. I talked to my Commander and he said it would be alright if you came by. So just reply whenever you feel like, and if you don't feel like it, it's alright._

_John_

Lia laughed slightly at the message and sent a reply.

_Sure, I'll meet you at Saronis Applications at 9:00 tomorrow_

_Lia_

Lia feel asleep that night with a smile on her face.

* * *

><p>"<em>She said yes! Woohoo," <em>thought John, though he didn't know why.

"_What am I doing, she's just a girl I met_. _But why does she sound so familiar?"_

He looked at the clock, saw it was late, and decided to get some sleep.

"_Big day tomorrow, might as well get some sleep,_" thought John.

He then fell asleep in his bed with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p>(Author's Note)<p>

Telling you this right now. The romance portion will start soon but the real romance won't start for a few chapters.

**Announcement #2**

After the Normandy leaves the Citadel, the next chapter will be used to advance the story of the game. And as such, the perspective will switch to Shepard and will shift away from John. Sound off in the reviews if you think this is a good idea.

**#3**

douchiesnacks, I understand your opinion about human/alien relationships. But honestly I like the story this way. Bioware has found a way to make me hate some of the human women of this game and like the aliens a whole lot more. So, I'm sorry but the relationships will remain the same.

New Romances

Zaeed/Chakwas  
>Possible ThaneSamara

More TBD

Do I seem like a review whore yet? Sound off in the reviews if you think so.


	7. Chapter 5: Of Tours and Tragedies

**The Cryonic Man**  
>Chapter 5: Of Tours and Tragedies<p>

A bit of foreword  
>This is my first story so please no flames.<br>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).  
>I also do not own the rights to Inception nor the rights to Frank Sinatra and his songs<p>

I do however claim ownership of the characters I create

_Italics stand for thoughts and voices over an intercom_

* * *

><p>John was up bright and early to get ready to head to Saronis Applications and show Lia the Normandy. But first he had to stand in the middle of the mess hall while Shepard gave the crew the overview of what would happen over the next few days.<p>

"The Normandy is getting some repairs over the next few days, and I'm going to be debriefing the Council about our current situation," said Shepard, "So for the next few days, you all will have some shore leave, so make the most of it."

Soon the crew was in an uproar of happiness, and then Shepard continued, "We'll be here for 3 days, so make the most of it."

"And maybe John can spend time with his new girlfriend," yelled Garrus.

"_Shit, I'm going to kill him for that," _thought John with venom.

Thus the uproar grew louder and aimed closer at John which sounded like he was about to receive a lot of questions he didn't want to answer. Knowing a bad situation when he saw it, John decided to do what all great men do in a bad situation.

"_RUN LIKE A BITCH," _he thought_, _and ran like hell for the elevator.

After the mob realized John was not in the room they quickly settled down and began planning what they would do with their shore leave.

Garrus and Kelly decided to go see the Presidium, Kenneth and Gabby decided to "stay on the ship" as did Dr. Chakwas and Zaeed, Kasumi decided to stay on the ship and sort out her things, Jacob decided to stay and work on the armory, Mordin decided to take a look around the Zakara Ward for parts and chemicals to help improve his counter-measure against the Collector swarms, Joker decided to stay on the Normandy as well, and, well, no one else is important so we'll move on.

John saw the construction crews getting ready to put in the new ship armor on the Normandy as he ran out the airlock. He was lucky the decontamination process didn't take that long. As soon as he felt he was safe he slowed to a walk and headed down to Saronis Applications. As soon as he was at the door he said hello to the store clerk and thanked him for his help yesterday and waited for Lia to show up.

* * *

><p>"Oh Keelah Oh Keelah Oh Keelah! I'm so late," said Lia as she rushed to get ready after she saw she had overslept.<p>

"Going to spend the day with your boyfriend," asked Kara.

"For the last time he's not my boyfriend. I just don't like to be late," said Lia with her arms crossed.

"Right, and I'm the Savior of the Citadel, Commander Shepard," said Kara in a sarcastic tone.

"Ha ha. Now see ya," replied Lia and quickly left.

"Man, she has it bad for him," Kara said and had a light laugh, "I wonder if I'll ever meet someone like that."

* * *

><p>John looked at his Omni-tool which said it was 10:00, and felt his heart falling a bit.<p>

"_I guess she's not coming," _he thought morosely.

He prepared to leave when he heard someone yell, "Wait, I'm here."

He turned to see someone crashing into him to the ground. He opened his eyes to see a beautiful woman on top of him, which caused him to blush and for certain areas to start growing. Lia came to after a bit, and after seeing where she was, she quickly stood up and blushed under her mask.

"Umm sorry about that, I kind of overslept and I didn't want to miss meeting you," said Lia.

"Uh yeah, I didn't think you would be here. I kind of had some bad experiences with girls," said John.

"Oh, uh, yeah. So you going to show me this starship of yours," Lia said in a teasing tone.

"Sure, the Normandy is docked in the hanger near here; we can take a taxi there right now," said John.

"Sounds great," said Lia.

They both headed towards the terminal, making light conversation as they went.

"So, is this your first time on the Citadel," asked Lia.

"Yeah, I've never seen something like this place before. The technology of this station is some of the most advanced I've ever seen," replied John.

"You know a lot about technology," asked Lia.

"Yeah, a lot of people say I have almost as much knowledge as your race. I kind of built a remote targeting system for an ML-77 Rocket Launcher and the rest is history," said John.

As the taxi neared the Normandy, Lia found herself amazed again at this amazing man. Then she turned out the window and looked at the amazing ship that was there.

"There it is, the Normandy SR-2, the most advanced warship in the entire galaxy," said John with pride in his voice.

They both got out of the taxi and started heading towards the Normandy's airlock.

"This is amazing, I've never seen a more advanced starship, not even at the Migrant Fleet," said Lia.

"I wouldn't know about that, I've never seen the Migrant Fleet before," replied John.

"No surprise, few people outside of my race have even seen the Migrant Fleet. The last time I saw it was the day I left on my Pilgrimage 3 years ago," Lia said with a hint of homesickness.

Seeing her bow her head a bit, John recognized she was homesick and sad and quickly changed the subject. "Err ah what exactly is a Pilgrimage anyway? Shepard never got the chance to tell me about them and I've been wondering how the tradition works."

"Well maybe I can tell you during the tour of this starship… wait did you say Shepard, as in Commander Shepard," asked Lia.

"Yeah, why," said John.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," said Lia as the pair reached the airlock.

John stopped her and said, "Hang on a second," and pulled up his Omni-tool.

"EDI, can you tell the crew, especially Joker, that I have a guest who will be touring the Normandy with me," said John. He wanted to make sure that he and Lia didn't run into anyone who could be caught in a compromising position. The last thing he wanted was to scare her off.

"_Of course Mr. Desmond, I will tell the crew who are still on the Normandy the news,_" replied EDI.

John breathed a sigh a relief and told Lia that they should wait a few minutes before they head in.

"Why." she asked.

"It's better you don't know," said John.

After a few minutes, they headed inside the airlock and after the decontamination process they walked into the CIC.

"Well this is the Deck 2 Command Center, and up there is the cockpit," said John.

They walked in and found Joker looking like he had a heart attack.

"You alright Joker," asked John jokingly.

"Yeah, th-th-thanks for the warning by the way," said Joker quickly as he quickly pulled up his zipper.

John let out a light laugh whereas Lia held a confused look on her face, which was hidden underneath her mask, and John said, "Any who, Joker this is Lia'Vael nar Ulnay. Lia this is the Normandy's pilot Jeff "Joker" Moreau."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Moreau," Lia said as she held out her hand which Joker shook and said, "Nice to meet you too Lia."

"So, John, is this the girl that Garrus was talking about," Joker said with an eyebrow raised and a mischievous smile on his face.

Cursing in his head for forgetting about Garrus, John replied, "Remind me that the next time I see Garrus, he's getting a kick to the place his species keeps their boys. And yes, she's here to see the Normandy."

"Well I won't keep you, so go ahead and keep up the tour for your girlfriend," said Joker.

"She's/He's not my girlfriend/boyfriend," Lia and John said at the same time.

"Aww you're so cute together," said Joker with a light laugh, "See you both later."

The two walked away in a huff and Joker returned to his console.

"I think I know someone who would be perfect for him," joked Lia and they both laughed, looked at each other and blushed again.

"_Keelah, of course I meet a guy who makes me blush so much_," thought Lia.

"_Calm down Desmond, she's just a woman you just met. Good god, why am I so nervous_," thought John.

"W-Well shall we continue the tour," said John nervously.

"Uh, sure, right, the tour must go on," said Lia who laughed nervously.

* * *

><p><em>Later on Deck 3<em>

"Well this is fun right," said John.

"Yeah, I liked meeting Doctor Solus and that tech lab was amazing, Jacob seemed very nice too," said Lia.

"_Okay, going well so far, no major screw-ups_," thought John.

"So this is the medical office, where Doctor Chakwas…OH MY GOD," said John as he quickly closed the door.

"What was that," said Lia.

"Nothing, nothing at all," said John quickly, "Hang on a moment," and brought up his Omni-tool.

"EDI I thought I told you to tell the crew what I was doing today," said John quietly.

"_I apologize Mr. Desmond, but Doctor Chakwas and Mr. Massani disabled my terminal in the medical bay. Unfortunately due to this, I was unable to relay your message to her. I will make a note that you wanted to talk to her_," replied EDI.

"Err, no that won't be necessary," said John, who quickly shut off his Omni-tool.

"What was all that about," asked Lia with curiosity.

"Nothing Nothing, come on let's go get some lunch and come back to continue the tour later," replied John.

Then they both quickly headed for the elevator.

_Meanwhile in the Medical Bay_

"What was that," said Doctor Chakwas.

"Who bloody cares," replied Zaeed, "Now come hear my grey-haired…

**DUE TO THE DISGUST I'M CURRENTLY FEELING I'M JUST GOING TO MOVE AWAY FROM THIS. WHAT YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE THIS? WELL DO YOU! THAT'S GROSS.**

* * *

><p><em>Later on the Citadel<em>

"_If I live to be a hundred, and have years of therapy, I will never get over the mental scarring I just suffered_," thought John.

"Will you just tell me what you saw," said Lia.

"Trust me when I say that I'm saving you from an amount of mental anguish that would make a Vietnam War veteran scream," said John.

"What's a Vietnam War," asked Lia.

"It's not important, so do you know any good places where you would like to go for lunch," said John, trying to change the subject.

"Well, there's a nice place near here, which serves dextro and levo foods," said Lia.

"Sounds great," said John, even though he didn't know what she was talking about.

They sat down for a nice lunch of a sandwich and nutrient paste.

"How do you eat with your envirosuit on anyway," John asked with curiosity.

"I'll tell you, if you agree to answer some of my questions," said Lia.

"Well sure, what do you want to know," John asked.

"What is up with you," said Lia with conviction.

"What, are you talking about," said John with surprise.

"You keep saying weird things about events that never really happened, and you're acting real nervous. What is up with you," said Lia.

"I told you, you wouldn't believe me if I told you," said John.

"I'm more mature than you think John, don't you trust me," said Lia with a bit of sadness in her voice.

"Of course I do, you just would think I was crazy if I told you," said John.

"John, you can trust me, just tell me," replied Lia.

John then sighed and told her, "Alright, do you promise to not freak out," When Lia nodded, "I'm not from this century."

"What," said Lia with disbelief.

John then told her the full story of his life, from his childhood in the 21st century, to his freezing, to being unfrozen just 3 weeks ago. Lia listened with intensity until he finished, and then she sighed.

"You're right you are crazy, you're obviously not the person I thought you were," Lia said, and she got up to leave.

"Lia, wait," John said.

"You expect me to believe your story of being from the 21st Century, how dumb do you think I am," said Lia.

"It's true and I have proof," said John.

He knew that most people would never believe his story so he always had some proof on hand in order to prove that his story was true.

He brought up his Omni-tool and said, "Play N7 armorcam log October 24, 2185."

His Omni-tool then started playing a video, a video of the day Shepard found him on the shuttle. Lia was shocked as the video played as she watched Shepard's team extracted John from the shuttle and watched as John was unfrozen and revived. After the video stopped playing, Lia felt a sense of shock and guilt for not believing John in the first place.

John closed his Omni-tool and said, "I've lived in this century for about two and a half weeks, are you happy now?"

"Why are you telling me this," said Lia.

"Like I said, I trust you," said John and he looked down and said, "I'll see you later."

He paid their bill and walked over to the nearest taxi terminal.

"John wait I'm sorry," said Lia.

He just kept walking as if he didn't hear her.

"John wait, please," said Lia almost pleading.

He just kept walking.

"WAIT," Lia said as she tackled John to the ground for the second time today.

"Please just wait," said Lia.

"Now do you understand," asked John.

"What," said Lia.

"Now do you get why I don't like to tell people my story," said John, "But first can you get up, you're kind of crushing my lungs."

"Oh sorry," said Lia as she and John both got up, "Look I'm sorry for what I said, it just was hard to believe your story at first."

"I guess I should have asked you if you trusted me first," said John with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

"I do trust you, it's just," said Lia.

"Neither of us have known each other for very long," John said.

"Right, I guess," said Lia.

"Well, how about this. We need to finish the tour of the Normandy, and I haven't really seen the Citadel in all its glory," said John.

"Where are you going with this John," asked Lia.

"Well me and the rest of the crew have another 3 days of shore leave, how about we spend the rest of the time with me finding out about you and your people and you can learn about my life back in the 21st century," said John.

"Are you suggesting that we start dating," said Lia, "Not that I would be suggesting that, and I wouldn't be against the idea. Err ah what am saying, I am such a spaz," she said nervously.

"Err no that's not what I was saying, not that that would be against the idea either err ah I mean," John said while babbling incoherently, "Uh anyway, what I'm saying that we spend some time getting to know each other better and, I don't know, maybe we could be friends."

"Y-Yes I would like that a lot," said Lia, secretly being relieved that John didn't hate her for what she had done.

"Well, is there anything else you want to do today," said John.

"We still have to finish that tour right," said Lia.

"Uh yeah that's right," said John.

"By the way, what did you see that made you want to leave," said Lia.

"Um, I don't know what you're talking about," answered John quickly.

"Look John, I'm a grown woman, I can handle anything you can tell me," said Lia.

John sighed and whispered what he saw in her audio receivers.

Lia then slapped him and said, "Why the hell would you tell me about that."

"I warned you didn't I," said John, and laughed, which Lia soon did too.

"_This is amazing, I've never met a girl like this since…." _thought John, who immediately felt a depression he had felt ever since the incident the week before his high school graduation.

* * *

><p><em><strong>(FLASHBACK)<strong>_

June 6, 2009

It was the day before graduation from high school. Everyone was running around, getting their yearbooks signed, and just in general saying tearful goodbyes to friends. In the buzz of activity, two friends, a boy and a girl, were sitting on a bench and talking about their future plans.

"Hey John, did you get accepted," said Gina.

"Yep, full ride scholarship too," said John.

"Oh my god, that's so amazing," said Gina, who then proceeded to hug him.

John felt himself blush slightly, and then returned the hug from his best friend. Gina Pilgrim was a lanky 17 year old who had been John's best friend since grade school. John remembered the day they had met like it was yesterday.

* * *

><p><em><span>Flashback within a flashback (INCEPTION!)<span>_

"Hey Pilgrim," said Leandra, "Where's my lunch money."

"But, but, I don't have any today," said Gina.

"Wrong answer Pilgrim," said Leandra who proceeded to knock Gina down and unleash hell upon her.

"LEAVE HER ALONE," yelled a young boy standing behind Leandra.

"Oh, it's you Desmond. Here for your beating early today," said Leandra.

"I said leave her alone Leandra," said John.

"What leave this pasty-faced pig alone, you must really like her Desmond. No go away, I'm here from my payment from little miss bedwetter here," said Leandra, who then proceeded to start beating up Gina again.

John then snapped and punched Leandra Phillips in the face.

Leandra then began to babble incoherently, and then ran with tears in her eyes. The rest of the kids then began cheering at John for finally putting that girl in her place.

John then smiled and walked over and picked Gina up.

"Are you alright," asked John.

"Y-Yeah," said Gina.

"Are you alright," asked John.

"Yeah, I'm just fine, thanks for saving me," replied Gina.

"No problem, I'm John Desmond by the way," John said as he held out his hand.

"Gina Pilgrim," said Gina as she accepted his hand.

"Well, I'll see you around," said John as he started to leave.

"Wait," Gina said and John stopped, "D-Do you want to come over to my house after school?"

John smiled and said, "Sure, that sounds great," and the two of them walked back to class.

* * *

><p>For the next few years, John and Gina grew closer as friends. John grew up to be a very smart and handsome young man, achieving several awards at several science fairs, all of which Gina went to and supported him throughout the way. Gina grew up to a very beautiful woman, but she was more athletic than John, which she frequently made fun of him about. She joined several basketball and softball teams and John went to every one of her games and cheered her on. The two of them never dated anyone but they were just satisfied with spending time with each other. While everyone at their school were going to dances, John and Gina played video games and sometimes played one on one, which Gina would usually win. John had a serious crush on her which only grew as the years went by. Secretly, he wished he had the courage to tell her.<p>

They spent every day together up till the week before graduation. John got a full academic scholarship to Empire State University, where he was going to earn a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Gina was getting an athletic scholarship and was going to major in Broadcast Journalism. The two of them decided that they would share an apartment in New York City, so that they wouldn't have to grow apart.

* * *

><p><em>Returning to the initial flashback<em>

"This is going to be amazing," said John as he broke up the hug.

"Hey Gina," said Vance Masterson as he walked over to them.

"What do you want Vance," Gina said, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. Vance had asked her out a thousand times and she always said no because he was a complete douche. He had some crazy idea that they should be together since he was the captain of the football team and she was the captain of the basketball team.

"I heard you're going to Nori's party tonight, maybe you and I could go together," said Vance.

The truth was that Gina was only going because John was going. John was well-liked by everyone, even the jocks. No bully made fun of him without finding themselves facing off against the entire football team the next day. Nori Takahasho was a young transfer student who was made fun of by everyone because of his accent, at least until John defended him which led to the two of them to become friends. Nori become a lot more confident and more popular after he became captain of the swim team but always remembered the man who helped him gain his confidence.

"Thanks, but I'm going with John," said Gina.

"Why would you want to go with that loser," said Vance.

"Careful Vance, remember the last time you made fun of me like that," said John.

The last time he had done that, the teachers found him hanging on the flagpole by his underwear. Vance hated John because of that, and hated the fact he was such good friends with Gina.

Vance growled but calmed down and said, "This isn't over Desmond, and I will get you Pilgrim."

Vance walked off and both John and Gina laughed hard.

"Well, see you later tonight," John asked.

"You bet, wouldn't miss it for the world," Gina answered.

* * *

><p><em>Later that night at the party<em>

"John, you made it," said Nori, "And Gina, glad you could be here too."

"Wouldn't miss the last great party of the year thrown by you Nori," said John.

"Come on, I want to see how well you can dance," said Gina.

"Help me," John whispered to Nori.

"Have fun you two," said Nori, and finished thinking, "_God I wish those two would just screw and get it over with already_."

_Later_

John felt out of breath, whereas Gina wasn't breaking a sweat.

"What's the matter Desmond, can't keep up," said Gina.

"I can go all night Pilgrim," said John.

Right at that moment a slow dance song came on, Frank Sinatra's My Way.

_And now the end is near  
>And so I face the final curtain<br>My friend I'll say it clear  
>I'll state my case of which I'm certain<em>

I've lived a life that's full  
>I traveled each and every highway<br>And more, much more than this  
>I did it my way<p>

John and Gina looked at each other and blushed.

John then smiled and turned to Gina and said, "May I have this dance, milady?"

Gina blushed even more and said, "Um, of course sir."

_Regrets I've had a few  
>But then again too few to mention<br>I did what I had to do  
>And saw it through without exemption<em>

I planned each charted course  
>Each careful step along the byway<br>And more, much more than this  
>I did it my way<p>

John and Gina were close together, swaying to the rhythm of the music.

"This is nice," said Gina.

"Yeah," said John, in a distant tone.

"Is there something wrong," asked Gina.

_Yes there were times I'm sure you knew  
>When I bit off more than I could chew<em>

_But through it all when there was doubt  
>I ate it up and spit it out, I faced it all<br>And I stood tall and did it my way_

"Gina, there's something I need to tell you," said John.

"What is it," asked Gina.

_I've loved, I've laughed and cried  
>I've had my fill, my share of losing<br>And now as tears subside  
>I find it all so amusing<em>

To think I did all that  
>And may I say not in a shy way<br>Oh no, oh no, not me  
>I did it my way<p>

"This is something I've been working up the courage to tell you for a long time," said John.

"Just tell me you idiot," Gina said.

_For what is a man what has he got  
>If not himself then he has not<br>To say the things he truly feels  
>And not the words of one who kneels<em>

John sighed and said, "I can't just tell you, I have to show you."

John moved one of his hands to her cheek and kissed her. At first Gina, opened her eyes with surprise and then she closed them and returned the kiss.

_The record shows I took the blows  
>And did it my way<em>

Yes it was my way

When they broke for air, John said, "Gina, I lo-."

"DESMOND!"

Both John and Gina turned to see Vance standing in the doorway of the house.

"How dare you try to take Gina from me," yelled Vance.

"What are you talking about, Vance," said John.

"Me and Gina are meant to be, you're just an idiot that's standing in the way," said Vance.

"Get this through your head Vance, I don't like you, you are a complete tool who cares more about his muscles than his personality. You and I will never happen," said Gina.

"Of course we will, I just need to take care of your boyfriend and the two of us will be together forever," said Vance.

Vance then shouted, ran, and tackled John. He then punched, kicked, and beat the hell out of John. Punch to the gut, kick to the shin, punch to the eye, there was no part of John that didn't get hit.

"Stop it, leave him alone," said Gina tried to pull Vance off of John.

"Get off me skank," said Vance and he punched her to the ground.

"Now where were we…huh," said Vance.

John was now up, and he was furious. His fists were clenched and shaking, and when he spoke, his voice chilled everyone to the bone.

"You can hurt me all you like, but touch Gina and you face a world of hurt," said John.

"Oh yeah, bring it on you reta-," Vance didn't get to finish as John punched him right in the face.

John began fighting as hard as Vance did earlier, only a lot harder. Soon, Vance was on the ground with a black eye, tears running down his face, and with a pain in his ribs which caused him to clutch them.

John then picked him up by his collar and said, "Get this through your thick skull you bastard. Leave Gina alone, she doesn't like you."

John walked over and helped Gina up, smiled, and asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah, just fine," she replied and the two hugged.

Vance watched this display with a growing fury. He decided he wanted to end this now. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small pistol and aimed it at the pair.

"LOOK OUT HE HAS A GUN," someone yelled and everyone moved to stop him, but it was too late.

"Die you son of a bitch," said Vance and fired off 4 shots.

John's life flashed before his eyes but then he realized none of the bullets hit him. Then he felt Gina hold him even tighter.

He turned towards her and his expression changed into one of complete horror. The four bullets Vance had fired had missed John and hit Gina. She was bleeding badly and John watched as she fell to the ground.

"NOOOOOOO," yelled John.

The other partygoers dogpiled on Vance and one of them pulled the gun from his hand while Nori called the police and an ambulance.

"Gina please wake up," said John who had Gina's head in his lap and tears rolling down his face.

"Gina please stay with me. Please, I love you, I love you," said John in almost a whisper.

"I love you too John. I've loved you since you saved me back in grade school," said Gina with a weak smile.

"You're going to be fine, I promise," said John as he pushed a couple locks of hair from her face.

"John, I'm scared," said Gina, "John, I want you to promise me something."

"What," asked John.

"If I don't make it," started Gina.

"You will Gina, you will make it," said John.

"Listen to me, if I don't make it. Promise me you won't let me drag you down. Promise you'll find someone to share your heart with again," said Gina.

"Please Gina don't say that, I love you," said John.

"Please promise me," said Gina with pleading eyes.

John sniffed and said, "Okay, I promise. But I promise you you'll be fine."

"You emotional idiot, you're going to make me cry," said Gina with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face.

She then touched his face and said, "I'm glad I met you John Desmond," and pulled John down to a kiss.

The two kissed until John felt her fade away, "Gina, Gina, GINA, Gina," he said with a normal tone to a yell to a whisper, and held her close until the paramedics came.

Gina Pilgrim was declared dead before she made it to the hospital.

* * *

><p><em>Graduation Day<em>

"And now, a speech by your valedictorian, John Desmond."

Everyone clapped and John stood up on the podium with a depressed look on his face.

"It is an honor to have the title of valedictorian. I had a full speech prepared and everything. Unfortunately, I have lost a person who was very dear to me. She was my best friend, I cared about her, and I loved her. Her name was Gina Pilgrim, and she was taken in the prime of her life by Vance Masterson, a man who was nothing but an idiot who couldn't take no for an answer. I loved Gina with all my heart, and I'm sorry but I can't be here right now," John said and he ran off.

* * *

><p>Gina's funeral service was held a month after her death. Everyone, including John, showed up. From her family and friends, to her team members, to almost everyone from the graduating class. After the service, and after everyone had left, John stood over Gina's grave for a few moments.<p>

He placed a single rose on her grave and said, "I still remember our promise Gina, but I will always love you."

"She felt the same way," said a voice from behind him.

John turned around to see Gina's parents standing right behind.

"It was obvious from the way she looked at you," said Gina's mother, Ramona.

"Oh, hello Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim," said John.

"John, I'm so sorry. Both me and Ramona heard your speech," said Gina's father, Scott.

"I loved her, and now I don't know what to do. Do I stay here, or do I move on," said John.

"John, I'm going to tell you something important. Gina has loved you for a very long time, longer than you could possibly know. But she would never want you to put your life for her," said Ramona.

"How could you say that," said John, with a hint of anger.

"John, Gina was our daughter, and if there was anything we knew about her, it's that she was selfless," said Scott, "Gina cared about you a lot, and even if you two didn't go to the same college and would never see each other again, she wouldn't object at all as long as you were happy."

John was shocked at this, did Gina really care about him that much?

"She would want you to go out and live your life," said Ramona.

"I still don't know," said John, "But you're right, she was always caring about other people's happiness before hers."

"Think about it John," said Scott and the two left to leave John to mourn.

John stood there for another hour and then smiled.

"I'll always love you Gina," he said one more time and left the cemetery.

(End Flashback)

* * *

><p><strong>(Author's Note)<strong>

Thank you for your critique and words of advice Deaths-Head.  
>And thank you all for your reviews.<p>

The story will continue for several more chapters and is in no way done

5 main points

1) Many of you have pointed this out, but if you have read my story you should know that Shepard told John about quarian culture, not Tali.

2) Yes, Tali hasn't been recruited yet, but she has promised Shepard that she will join him after her mission is done

3) John was build the weapon attachment because he is a very smart individual and it is in no way self indulgent

4) No ideas for John's weakness but it will show up at some point

5) I might use some story time to establish John's backstory, depending on how this chapter is recieved

**ANNOUNCEMENT**

I will be working on two projects at once, both are multi-chaptered stories. My next project will be a story based on the manga/anime Love Hina. So if you get the chance,check it out when it is up.


	8. Chapter 6: Serious Decisions

**The Cryonic Man**

Chapter 6: Tours Continued and Serious Decisions

A bit of foreword

This is my first story so please no flames.

I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).

I do however claim ownership of the characters I create

_Italics stand for thoughts and voices over an intercom_

Wow, first update of the New Year. Sorry it took so long but I'm sort of running out of ideas of how to make chapters longer. On top of school, studying for finals week, and all around loss of time, I haven't really had much time to write. Fair warning, this chapter may not be as good as my previous ones, but hey, this is just a chapter to end the Citadel arc.

* * *

><p>"John, John," said Lia.<p>

"Huh," John said, shaken out of his flashback.

"Are you alright," said Lia.

"Oh uh yeah, just thinking about something," John said in a distant tone.

"What about," Lia said with concern.

"Oh it's nothing. Hey, I just remembered that we need to finish the tour of the Normandy. Shall we head off," said John, eager to change the subject.

"Sure, I'm sure that the Doctor and your friend have finished by now," Lia said, laughing.

This caused John to blush and say, "Why did you have to bring that up? I was just getting over seeing that."

Lia laughed even harder and said, "Come on, we're not too far from the taxi terminal." 

* * *

><p><em>Later, back on the Normandy<em>

"Okay, so as I was saying before this is the medical lab," said John.

"Hello you two," said Dr. Chakwas, "Ah, John this must be your girlfriend that I've heard so much about."

"Remind me to kill Garrus the next time I see him, and she is not my girlfriend," said John.

"Whatever you say dear," said Doctor Chakwas, before she noticed that John wasn't looking her in the eye.

"What's the matter, John," said Doctor Chakwas with concern.

"We came by earlier but apparently you had some company," Lia finished ambiguously.

Doctor Chakwas had a look of confusion on her face, which quickly changed to one of shock and embarrassment.

"Oh, so you saw…," said Doctor Chakwas.

"Yep," John finished before she went into detail.

"Oh um, I'll leave if you like," said Doctor Chakwas.

"Yeah, that would be great," said John, and Chakwas left.

"Anyways, the lab is fully stocked with medicine, bandages, antibiotics, immune-boosters, medi-gel, and everything else you could think of," said John.

"Is Doctor Chakwas a very good doctor," said Lia.

"Yep, she has had tons of experience with all sorts of human and alien physiology including turian, krogan, and quarian, from when she served on the original Normandy," said John.

The two of them then moved on to the next door.

John opened the door and said, "And here we have the home of our AI, EDI. She runs the electronic warfare part of the Normandy's system."

"AI, IT MUST BE DESTROYED," said Lia as she picked a pipe lying around and began viciously hitting the various systems in the AI core.

"Lia stop, what are you doing," yelled John.

"AI's are horrors that must be destroyed," said Lia.

"Lia, please calm down. What is the matter with you," said John.

"You don't know," said Lia, "The last time the quarians allowed an AI to develop freely, it created the geth. Since then the quarians have been taught to never trust AIs in any form. Now stand aside so I can destroy this monstrosity."

She then pushed John aside and began wailing on the AI core again.

"Lia, please stop," he said again.

"No, I have to destroy this thing before it kills us all," said Lia.

"Lia please," John said and he grabbed her and turned her around so she faced him, "Lia, do you trust me?"

"Yes, of course, how could you ask that," said Lia, surprised.

"Lia, trust me when I say that EDI has had plenty of opportunities to kill me and the rest of the crew but she didn't. And do you understand why," said John.

"She's trying to lull you into a false sense of security," said Lia.

"No, it's because A) she doesn't have control over any life essential systems and B) she cares about the people on this ship, now do you understand," said John.

Lia considered this for a moment. "No, but I trust you, and if that means having to trust an AI, I'll do it, but only for you," said Lia.

"Thank you Lia," John said with a hint of relief that Lia wouldn't try to smash EDI, at least for now.

"Well, shall we finish the tour, and please put down the pipe," said John.

"Okay, let's go," said Lia, putting down the pipe.

"Okay," said John and the two walked out into the galley and headed down a hallway.

"Over here are the weapon systems where Garrus just finished putting in our new Thanix Cannon systems," said John, showing her the new armaments.

"Wow, a turian designed cannon which fires superheated metal shaped by an electromagnetic field. Wasn't there something like this on Sovereign when he attacked the Citadel," asked Lia.

"I wouldn't know, all I know about that whole attack on the Citadel was Shepard's stories and old news footage I found on the extranet. Also, seriously, no one could come up with a more original name than extranet," said John.

"What's more original than extranet," asked Lia with a cocked head.

"Not important, the point is that while the Battle of the Citadel was going on, I was sleeping in a space shuttle as frozen as an ice cube," said John.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that, sorry," said Lia, holding her head down.

"That's alright, it's just hard sometimes believing that a 174 years have gone by. But enough about that, were you on the Citadel when the attack happened," asked John.

"No, I was on Ilium when it happened, looking for work. My friend Kara was here however, she told me stories of what happened. How Commander Shepard had the choice of letting the Council die, but he didn't. He called in Alliance reinforcements to save the Destiny Ascension, a ship containing the Council and a large amount of civilians, including Kara. When she heard about the attack by Sovereign on the ship, she was honestly afraid that she was going to die on that ship. But when she heard that the Alliance Military had been called in to save the Ascension she was awed that humans honestly came in to save the lives of aliens, despite how humans were treated by the galactic community as a whole. The Council was so grateful that they gave humanity a seat on the Council itself, a huge precedent," said Lia.

"Heh, apparently time has made them forget what he did for them. Despite the human lives he sacrificed, the Council just rebuffed him when he told them about how the Collectors were abducting human colonists. Hell, they refuse to acknowledge his warnings that the Reapers are working with them, or that Sovereign was anything but a geth construct and they honestly believe that Saren used charisma to win over the geth," John said with venom.

"No way could the geth create something that advanced, or an organic could come up with a good enough lie to make the geth follow him, they have polygraph technology and all sorts of sensors which would tell if he was lying," said Lia.

"Exactly what I told the Council, but honestly the asari and turian Councilors have the amount of stubbornness that mules have," said John.

"A mule," said Lia with a cocked head which said confusion.

"It's an animal on Earth, which has a reputation for being one of the hardest animals to train or convince to do anything," said John, "The point is when those two form an opinion, it's impossible to change their minds."

Lia laughed a bit, "Yeah, the turian Councilor has a reputation for being a little bigoted sometimes."

"Sometimes! "Ah yes, The 21st Century, a period of time which took place between the years 2000 and 2099. I thought we had dismissed that claim"," joked John, mimicking the turian Councilor.

The two laughed hard for a long time, caught each other's eyes, and stopped, blushing which was more obvious on John than Lia.

"Let's continue the tour," said John.

"Yeah, let's go," said Lia. 

* * *

><p>"Finally, we come to the Engineering Deck, where me, Kenneth, and Gabby work," said John.<p>

"This is amazing, what is this right here," asked Lia with her eyes pointed at the drive core.

"That's the Tantalus Drive Core, I can't discuss the specifics of it, I promised Shepard I wouldn't," said John.

"And he's alright with you showing me the weapon systems and tech lab," said Lia.

"Well, when you put it that way," said John.

"Hey John, who's your friend," said Gabby.

"Oh hey Gabby, this is Lia," said John.

"Wow, lad. You didn't tell me your friend was so, provocative," said Kenneth, checking Lia out.

"Get your tongue off the floor, Kenneth," said John.

"And her suit is tight in all the right places," whispered Kenneth, which wasn't heard by Lia but heard by John and Gabby.

"Gabby, please show your boyfriend proper etiquette for guests," said John.

"With pleasure John," said Gabby, which after she said that she began to give her boyfriend a lesson.

John and Lia watched this from afar, one with a look of pleasure, the other with a look of confusion.

"What's going on here," said Lia.

"A lesson in etiquette," said John.

Gabby ended the lesson with Kenneth with him holding his ribs and wiping the blood from his nose.

"You know some people would classify this as abuse," said Kenneth.

"Others would consider this funny because you got beaten up by a girl. One of those people is me," said John while laughing.

"So anyways, I'm giving her a tour of the Normandy, but do you mind taking over the tour of the Engineering Bay, I kind of need to use the bathroom," said John, embarrassed.

"No problem John, me and Kenneth will take it from here," said Gabby.

"And we can get to know your new girlfriend," said Kenneth with a mischievous smile.

"Gabby," said John, with a look that said, "Please take care of this."

"No problem John," said Gabby and then she hit Kenneth upside the head.

Even Lia was laughing a little at this display.

"I'll be back in a bit," said John and headed off to the elevator.

"So, this is an advanced version of the Tantalus Drive Core that was on the original Normandy. It's streamlined and stationary saving space unlike the rotating drive core on the SSV Normandy," said Gabby.

"Amazing," said Lia, who was very impressed.

"With this, the Normandy has amazing stealth systems in order to evade pursuers," said Kenneth.

"This ship is so amazing, and most of the crew that I've met are really nice, even though I'm a quarian," Lia said with a bit of a depressed tone.

"Well, we don't really have any prejudices here. You could say Shepard and John are good influences on the rest of us," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, the two of them are very nice, almost like brothers," said Lia.

"Kenneth can you leave for a moment," said Gabby with hint of mischief in her eyes.

"But I want to stay and meet John's girlfriend," said Kenneth.

Though after seeing the look in Gabby's eyes he said, "Okay I'm going, I'm going."

Lia began to fear what was coming next so she tried to leave, only to be stopped by Gabby.

"So, what do you really think of the crew here," said Gabby.

"What do you mean? Like I said before, the people I've met seem very nice," said Lia.

"Calm down Lia, I just wanted to get the chance to talk to you and get to know you bit, girl to girl," said Gabby.

"O-Okay Gabby," said Lia.

"So, how's your tour been going," said Gabby.

"This ship is amazing; the amount of technological improvements in one ship is simply mind-blowing. The weapon systems, the drive core, even the AI Core is amazing," said Lia.

"Yeah, the Normandy SR-2 is a real marvel. John loved it the first time he saw the ship. Which reminds me, what is your relationship with John anyway," asked Gabby.

"Uh err ah guh what," said Lia, surprised at the question.

"How. Do you. Feel. About. John," repeated Gabby.

"Well he's nice and sweet and um I'm glad to have met someone who doesn't hate quarians, but he's just a friend, nothing more," said Lia trying to placate her.

"You may not know this, but me and Kenneth followed you all day. Kenneth thought we would catch you two in an embarrassing position. When he saw that you two were just doing a normal tour he quickly got bored and left. Yet, I saw through it, I saw the way you looked at him, your body language towards him, the way you intently listened to him when he talks, someone has a crush," said Gabby.

"I don't have a crush, I just enjoy John's company," said Lia.

"John and Lia sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G," said Gabby.

"I do not have a crush on John," said Lia.

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby with a baby carriage," said Gabby.

"I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON JOHN AND IT'S NOT LIKE HE'D WANT TO BE WITH SOMEONE LIKE ME ANYWAY," yelled Lia.

This caused Gabby to completely stop her teasing tone and look at Lia with shock, "Lia, I didn't mean."

"I'm nothing but a walking suit, why would John want someone like me," said Lia and she began to cry.

"Lia, listen, I think John likes you a lot," said Gabby.

"You're just trying to make me feel better," said Lia, angered that this woman had the nerve to pity her.

"Lia, John smiles a lot when you're around, and he's happier than I've ever seen him before in the 2 ½ weeks he's lived in this century. Hell, he can't look at you for 5 seconds without blushing. I'm not entirely 100% sure, but I believe he's got a bit of a crush on you too," said Gabby.

"You really think so," said Lia, "The truth is that…I don't really know how I feel about John."

"What do you mean," said Gabby.

"Well, he's really nice, he's smart, he's funny, and he sees past peoples races to the people they are inside, and he's so handsome…err anyway but I'm not sure if what I feel is love or maybe something else, I don't know. Please don't tell John," Lia said in almost a begging tone.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," said Gabby.

"Thanks, Gabby," said Lia.

"I wonder what the boys are doing right now," said Gabby. 

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile on Deck 3<em>

"Good god, note to self, cut down on fluids," said John as he zipped up his fly.

"Hey lad," said Kenneth.

"Oh, Kenneth, why aren't you downstairs showing Lia the drive core," said John.

"I was enjoying spending time with your girlfriend," Kenneth said, and after John's denial, he continued with, "When Gabby said she wanted to talk with her."

"And you left Lia alone, ARE YOU MAD," said John.

"I didn't want to leave, but Gabby gave me the "Leave now or face the consequences" look," said Kenneth.

This caused John to calm down a bit, admittedly he knew that when Gabby gave people that look, it meant avoid at all possible.

"OK, I'll just need to do damage control later then," said John.

"So, John, it was nice meeting your new girlfriend today," said Kenneth.

"For the last time man, she is not my girlfriend, I just met her and we're just friends," said John.

"Yeah I don't believe that for a single second, you're crazy for her," said Kenneth.

"What makes you say that," said John.

"Because whenever you look at her your face turns as red as a tomato," said Kenneth.

"I, uh, have a bit of a fever," said John, almost like he was trying to convince himself.

"Riiiight, and it has nothing to do with the curves on your lady friend downstairs," said Kenneth.

"Look, she is smart, funny, and well, beautiful. Bu-But, there's nothing going on between us, I swear. But, I wouldn't be against the idea," said John.

"Welllll, good for you lad. Have you told her yet," said Kenneth.

"Well, no. Look, I'm nervous. We barely know each other, and she has her Pilgrimage to think about," said John.

"Well lad, do whatever you need to do. Come on, let's head back down to Engineering to finish that tour," said Kenneth.

* * *

><p><em>Back on Deck 4<br>_  
>"Sorry about that girls, so what's up," said John as he and Kenneth stepped out of the elevator.<p>

"Well, we were just talking," said Gabby.

"Really, what about," said John.

"Nothing, I was just discussing with Engineer Gabriela here about how the tour was going," Lia said quickly.

"Oh, well, alright then," said John, though he felt a bit of suspicion.

"Well, I would say it's getting late, wouldn't you Kenneth," said Gabby.

"I do believe so," said Kenneth, and he turned to John and said, "We're gonna turn in, have fun with your girlfriend."

At that point both John and Lia began stammering a denial, but Kenneth and Gabby had already headed for the elevator.

"So how was the talk with Lia," said Kenneth.

"She has it bad for him, how was your talk with John," said Gabby.

"The lad is head over heels for her," said Kenneth.

The two laughed and headed off to the elevator for Deck 3.

"With all the innovations they put in this ship, you'd think they'd put in more than one elevator," said Kenneth as they waited.

They left and left John and Lia alone.

"So, anyways I guess the only thing left to show you is our most recent addition," said John, "Let's head down to the hanger and I can show you." 

* * *

><p><em>Later on Deck 5<em>

"Keelah," said Lia, shocked and awed.

"We just recovered this prototype one week ago, ain't she a beaut," said John.

Lia didn't answer as she stared at the experimental M-44 Hammerhead with its armor plating, pulse cannon, guided missile system, and hover jets.

"Come on, let's head inside," said John.

They headed in and Lia said, "Wow I'm surprised how spacious it is."

"Well it's not that spacious, there's only room for 3 people," said John.

"_My specifications are actually built for four individuals sir_," said a voice on the loud speaker.

"Gah, what was that," said Lia.

"Oh that's the on-board Virtual Interface, good evening Phillip, how's the Hammerhead running," said John.

"_Systems currently running at optimum efficiently, weapon systems currently require calibrations_," said Phillip.

"I'll have to tell Shepard to tell Garrus to do that," said John, thinking about revenge for this morning. Calibrations for the Hammerhead took almost an entire day, so his little date with Kelly would have to be put on hold.

"Why would you call a VI Phillip," asked Lia.

"Well he's actually the Personal On-board Navigation And Repair Systems, but, for me anyway, calling him PONARS just seemed weird," said John, "So I just gave him a name."

"_It is a pleasure to meet you mam_," said Phillip.

"Um, nice to meet you, um Phillip," said Lia.

"Phillip is an amazing feat of engineering, he can monitor the climate of any planet, and runs the auto-repair and mineral excavation systems," said John, "The Hammerhead practically couldn't run without him."

"_That is untrue sir, as the weapon and piloting systems are manually operated therefore I require individuals in order to operate_," said Phillip.

"And I forget sometimes that VI's don't have personalities and therefore can't take a complement," said John, earning a laugh from Lia.

"_Now that's just hurtful sir_," said Phillip.

This caused their eyes to widen and Lia said, "Is he supposed to do that?"

"No and we should probably leave now," John said, and the two ran out. 

* * *

><p><em>Later, back on Deck 2<em>

"Well, that's all you need to know about the Normandy_," _said John.

"This was an amazing day, I've never seen so many innovations on a single ship. Thanks again for the tour, hope I didn't get you in any trouble with your Commander," said Lia.

"Shepard may look intimidating on the news, but he's actually just a big softie," said John.

"Talking bad about your Commanding officer Desmond," John heard someone say and turned around to see Shepard with a frown on his face and his arms crossed.

"Oh uh Shepard, I didn't think your meeting with the Council had already finished," said John.

"I guess we'll have to find a suitable punishment for you Desmond," said Shepard, which John saw anyway, with anger in his voice.

"Wh-Wh-What do you suggest Commander," said John with a bit of fear.

"Your punishment is to go with Miss Vael and treat her to a nice dinner, and then make sure she gets home safely," said Shepard, who was desperately trying to keep a straight face.

John, catching up on the joke, quickly saluted and said, "Yes sir, Commander."

"Now move out," said Shepard.

"Come on Lia," said John and the two left.

"Great meeting you Commander," said Lia. 

* * *

><p><em>Later at the restaurant<em>

The two ordered a couple dinners and began a conversation.

"So you never told me how you eat in that suit," said John.

"Well, you see, I have these special tubes that run through my suit, some are for medicine injections some are to help seal off my suit when there's a leak, and some allow me to eat special nutrient paste," said Lia.

"What is living in an envirosuit like," said John.

And thus the two began a long conversation which lasted throughout the night with Lia with John talking about pre-mass relay life on Earth and Lia talked about her life on the Flotilla before she left for her Pilgrimage. Before they knew it, they were back at the shelter at the day's end.

John looked at the time on his Omni-tool and said, "Wow, it is getting pretty late, I have to get back to the Normandy."

"Wait," said Lia and John turned around, "Um, I had a really good time today and I was wondering if we could see the Citadel tomorrow um together."

John considered this for about a nanosecond, smiled and said, "That sounds great, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," said Lia, and she headed inside the shelter with a smile on her face, which would have been big enough to be seen from space if it weren't for her mask.

"_Today really was amazing_," thought John. 

* * *

><p>And for the next 3 days, Lia and John spent every day together, rarely separating until it was time for Lia to return to the shelter and John to return to the Normandy. All the while enjoying each other's company and spending time together.<p>

The other members of the Normandy who saw John everyday noticed a change in his demeanor. He was friendly before, but he was a lot less quiet and he seemed a lot happier than normal ever since meeting Lia. Kenneth and Joker frequently joked that maybe John had seen the forbidden fruit that the quarian's hid, but a quick glare from John in the case of Kenneth and a glare from Shepard in the case of Joker quickly silenced the jokes. Garrus tried to joke but John's revenge quickly put an end to any laugh to be had, and Garrus learned that you don't screw with a Desmond.

Kara noticed a change in Lia's demeanor as well. Before, she was always depressed about people treating her like trash, scum, and a thief. But ever since she met John, she seemed to never be depressed, she had a bounce in her step, and Kara wasn't 100% sure but she was pretty sure Lia had a smile that could be seen from space at the end of every day.

Lia and John also tried to set up Kara and Joker together on one of the Normandy's final days at the Citadel. Later when John returned to the Normandy he found Joker's hands rubbing parts of Kara's suit and Kara with her hand down Joker's pants. Suffice to say, he quickly left to give those two some privacy. (It didn't go further than that)

It wasn't long however until it was the last day of shore leave for the crew of the Normandy. The new armor had been installed and the repairs had been made. 

* * *

><p><em>The night before the Normandy leaves<em>

"So, you leave tomorrow huh," Lia said with a bit of morosely as the two stood on a balcony on the Presidium, staring off into space, literally and figuratively.

"Yeah," said John with a bit of depression.

"I can't believe that it's over, but it was fun," said Lia.

"Yeah, you can still come with us you know," said John.

"It does sound wonderful John, but I'm not sure," said Lia.

"But you can get paid for your work, have more places to find a Pilgrimage gift," said John.

"I know, but I still don't think I can accept such a huge change so readily. I mean, this place has been my home for almost 2 years. Plus, Kara is here, and I can't just abandon her," said Lia.

"B-B-But," John said, and he sighed and continued, "I understand, I can't ask you to abandon your home nor your friends. But, I really will miss you, and if you change your mind we don't leave until 10:00."

"Well, you'll be back here soon right," said Lia with some hope.

John instead didn't look her in the eye and said, "Who knows when we'll be back. With the way the crew has been talking about the mission… we may never come back."

Lia then reached over and grabbed John in a bear hug, which John returned after some hesitation. Even with her mask on, John could hear her sniffling a bit.

"Promise me you'll come back safe," said Lia.

"Lia, I can't be entirely sure…," said John.

"PROMISE ME," Lia yelled.

"Okay Okay, I promise. I promise that I will come back safely," said John, "Will I see you tomorrow?"

She didn't look back and said, "See you later John." 

* * *

><p><em>Later at the shelter<em>

Lia found herself sitting up on her cot, holding her legs to her chest. Inside there was a battle going on inside her mind over whether this was the right choice. On one hand, she really liked John and the prospect of going with him was something she really wanted. But she couldn't just up and abandon everything, especially Kara who had practically been her best friend for almost 2 years.

Her musings were interrupted when she heard her friend call her.

"Yeah Kara," said Lia.

"So how was your last date with John," asked Kara.

Lia was so depressed that she didn't even try to say a denial and just said in a distant tone, "It went just fine."

"Whoa," Kara said, noticing her friend's tone, "Are you alright Lia?"

"Yeah, why do you ask," said Lia, still in a depressed tone.

"Well for one thing you seem depressed, the first time you've been depressed since you first met a certain human," said Kara.

"Well I'm just fine, so stop asking," said Lia.

"Lia, I'm just concerned for you," said Kara, "And trust me you don't look fine. Hell, I half expected to see you packing up your things."

"I'm not going," said Lia.

"What! I thought for sure you would say yes to John after the amount of time you spent with him. So why did you say no," said Kara.

Lia sighed and said, "I just couldn't do it, the Citadel has been my home for 2 years, and I can't just leave this and you behind."

Kara replied, "Lia, don't give me that. You've only lived on the Citadel for 2 years, and getting a job to earn money for a Pilgrimage gift was the only reason you came here in the first place. And as for me, I appreciate your concern but I can take care of myself thank you. Look, everyday you tell me about how badly you're treated here, and yet you're allowing the only person besides me who's treated you like a person instead of a vagrant, thief, or walking suit to leave? You seem happier in the last four days than in the last two years. So do you want to tell me the real reason why you said no to him?"

Lia looked down and said, "B-B-Because I'm afraid."

"Of what," Kara said with concern.

"Me and John are friends, nothing more. But I'm afraid if I keep spending time with him, maybe what I feel…," said Lia, trailing off.

Kara understood immediately, "You want to be more than friends," Lia nodded, "And you're afraid that if you tell him that, he'll be weirded out or you'll, pardon the pun, alienate him, is that right?"

Lia nodded again and Kara kneeled down till she was at her best friend eye level, "Lia, I can't understand what you're going through, but wouldn't going with him be better than staying here and acting like what you two had never happened?"

"No but," Lia started.

"Lia, what John has offered you is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and if you don't take it, I can fully assure you that you will regret for the rest of your entire life," said Kara.

"But," Lia started again, "What will happen to you?"

"Again with this, I'll be fine. Lia, you're my best friend, and as your best friend I just want you to be happy, and I truly believe you'd be a lot happier exploring the stars with your boyfriend than staying here in the Citadel," said Kara.

"I still don't know what to do," said Lia.

"Sleep on it," said Kara and she headed off to her bunk.

Lia laid her head down on a pillow and tried to fall asleep with a mind abuzz with activity, for tomorrow would be another day. 

* * *

><p><em>The next morning<em>

John stood outside the Normandy dock, anxiously hoping that Lia would show up. He sincerely hoped that she would come with them, or at least she would come to say goodbye in person. But as time wore on, the only person that came by was her friend Kara who came to make Joker promise to message her everyday and to come back safely. He asked her about Lia, but she simply said that there was a strong possibility that Lia wouldn't come.

"I hope you'll understand," said Kara.

John felt himself get a little emotional but tried really hard not to show it.

"No, it's alright," he said with a sad smile which quickly fell from his face, "I just wish she would come by before we leave and say goodbye in person."

Kara pulled John into a hug and said, "I'm sure she would if she could."

"_Damn it Lia, why didn't you come? Now I have to be the one to comfort your boyfriend_," thought Kara.

John broke the hug and said, "It was very nice meeting you Kara, and if you see Lia, tell her I said she is a truly amazing person, and my life is better knowing that there someone out there who cares for me."

"I'm sure she would say the exact same thing about you John," said Kara.

"_Five minutes until departure_," said EDI over the intercom.

"Well, I guess I should head inside. Say goodbye to Lia for me," said John and he started to head up the ramp towards the Normandy's airlock.

Just as he was about to leave however, he heard a hover-taxi landing and heard a very loud, "WAIT!"

He turned around to see a woman colliding with him and found himself knocked to the ground. When he came to after a brief moment of dizziness from hitting his head, he saw Lia lying on top of him.

When she came to as well, John said, "I didn't think you'd come."

"Well I wanted to say goodbye in person," said Lia.

John was a bit disappointed, but nonetheless he was glad to see Lia before the Normandy was going to leave.

"Having fun you two," said Kara with a laugh.

Then the two realized the situation they were in and quickly stood up and blushed.

"This feels like déjà vu," said John.

"Déjà vu," Kara and Lia said with cocked heads.

"It's an expression for when something happens and you feel like it's happened before," explained John.

"Ah, right, it does feel like that," Lia said, "Now John, I came here to say goodbye so that's what I'm going to do."

John took a deep breath and braced himself.

Lia then said, "I'm sorry, but I'm going with John Kara, so this is goodbye I guess."

"I understand, but just know that my life will always be better from knowing you," said John, though after his brain caught up with his ears, "Wait what?"

Kara and Lia shared a quick hug and Kara said, "Good luck Lia, I'm very proud of you, and you," pointing at John, and pulling him into another hug as well, "Make sure my best friend comes back safely."

John didn't answer as he was still in shock. He was about to reply when he heard the loud speaker.

"_One minute until departure_."

"We better get moving," said Lia, and she pulled John along and into the airlock.

As the Normandy undocked and headed off to space, Kara stood there with one thought in her mind.

"_Wherever the stars take you Lia, I hope you'll be happy. And I hope that you and John realize you're feeling for each other soon_," she thought with a chuckle. 

* * *

><p>(Author's Note)<p>

And it is finally done. After 13 days of typing, I finally get the 6th Chapter finally done.

Make no mistakes, the fic is not over, not by a long shot.

**Announcements**

**#1**

The wait will be a little longer on the next few chapters thanks to A) finals week and B) the start of my other project, LH: All in the Family, which the prologue is currently posted.

**#2**

I announced in an earlier chapter that the next chapter will focus on Shepard's perspective in order to advance the plot of the game itself. There are three ways I can go about this.

1. I use the next chapter to give a summary of the recruitment missions of Jack and Grunt

2. I glaze over the recruitments and instead give my own version of the events on Horizon

3. I focus on developing John and Lia's relationship and just let the game's plot happen in the background

Leave a review to tell me which idea that you think is better

**#3**

While I currently have two in-progress fics, after I finish this one and advance LH: All in the Family enough, I will be working on another big OC (well sort of) Alternate Universe fic. It currently has no title, but it will be based off of X-Men First Class and will star my take on a rarely ever used character in the X-Men or the Marvel Universe in general.

Well that's all folks, peace in the Middle East, Stephen Colbert for President and the rest.


	9. Shepard Interlude 1: Horizon

**The Cryonic Man**

Shepard Interlude 1: Horizon

A bit of foreword  
>This is my first story so please no flames<br>I do not claim ownership to the rights or the characters of Mass Effect  
>I do however claim the characters created by me, gale1243 (hey, I made a rhyme, and in such little time)<p>

_Italics stand for thoughts and voices over a loudspeaker_

As previously stated in a previous chapter, I will be switching the perspective to Shepard for certain chapters in order to advance the plot of the game. This is the first interlude which will follow the events of the Horizon mission. Grunt's and Jack's recruitment will be mentioned but will not play a large role in the chapter. 

* * *

><p>Two weeks. Two weeks of banging my head against the wall after having to deal with those stubborn Councilors, well the asari and turian councilors anyway. I found evidence that the Collectors are behind the abductions, with the possibilities of the Reapers working with them and they do nothing since the Terminus Systems are "outside of their jurisdiction". More like they still can't get over the fact that the new kids on the block had to be the ones to save the day. Sometimes I wonder how Anderson can handle it, I would hate that job. Yet, I would rather be him, still working with the Alliance and not being a slave to the Illusive Man. At least I have people I can trust still keeping me in the loop, Garrus, Tali, Anderson, Joker, Doctor Chakwas. Though I still have some new people at least that I trust.<p>

Mordin may talk my ear off at times, but he can be trusted. John, our resident cryonic engineer, hasn't been involved with Cerberus, or knows what Cerberus is, so he has my trust. Lia'Vael, our most recent recruit, I don't know how to think. The quarian woman who John defended, apparently the apple of his eye, not that she doesn't feel the same way. If she knows this is a Cerberus ship, she certainly doesn't show it, or maybe she just loves John so much that she doesn't care. I don't know if she can be trusted, but John trusts her, so I'll try to trust her.

Jacob is Cerberus, but from the way he talks, he doesn't trust the Illusive Man any more than I do, but he's still Cerberus, so I don't trust him yet. Kelly, Kenneth, Gabby, all good people, but I'm still not sure if they can be trusted. Zaeed is a merc, here for the money, and I'm sure that if someone paid him enough, he would easily stab me in the back. I'll trust him for now, but if he goes behind my back he's going to find I'm not one to be crossed. Kasumi…I've found no reason to distrust her, then again she is a master thief, so who knows. Miranda is the Illusive Man's right hand girl, and from what John told me about her little conversation with him I don't trust her at all.

The rest of the week was spent recruiting two more people from my dossiers. One was supposed to be a krogan warlord, until some Blue Suns commander tried to kill us, and ended up killing Okeer with poison gas. Now we have his life's work in our possession, a tank bred krogan who Okeer designed to be perfect, a krogan unaffected by the genophage. He took on the name Grunt and joined my squad, apparently eager to serve under a battlemaster.

The next went even worse. I was supposed to go to a prison called Purgatory, pick up a prisoner called Subject Zero who Cerberus, with their unlimited resources, bought from a warden who apparently is selling prisoners and forcing the prisoner's home planets to pay for protection. Completely made me sick, but if the dossier was telling the truth about this person's biotic potential, it would be worth it. Only the warden double-crossed us, tried to take us prisoner to get a huge reward. However, when I unleashed Subject Zero from cryo, things went badly for him, with the Purgatory getting destroyed by a bald woman who had more biotic power than any asari I'd ever seen. Like I said, don't cross me. The girl, Jack, hates Cerberus with a passion, which means putting her on a Cerberus vessel might not be the best idea. She certainly has had some serious disputes with John about his maintenance duties in the underbelly of the ship, especially after John accidentally walked into her "room" while she was changing. Luckily, Kenneth, Gabby, and Lia explained everything, saving John from becoming a mess on the walls, thank god.

I've been messaging Tali ever since meeting her on Freedom's Progress, keeping her up to date on the going ons of the new Normandy, including the recruitment of Garrus, the finding and unfreezing of John, John meeting Lia on the Citadel and those two's romantic weekend and her joining us, to which she replied that she couldn't wait to join us and meet Lia. I told her about everything else that happened the rest of these two weeks. God I miss her, as much as I love having Garrus, Joker, and Doctor Chakwas here, I wish she was here.

I don't have very much left to say, so I guess I'm done.

* * *

><p>Shepard closed his video log and sat down, thinking about what to do now, when he heard the loudspeaker call.<p>

"_Commander, the Illusive Man is calling us_," said Joker.

"Can't it wait," replied Shepard.

"_No can do, the head-dog said he has urgent information about a possible Collector attack as well as something else. Commander, the planet that is about to be attacked, Alenko is there_," said Joker, tone turning serious.

"Kaidan, has anyone warned him," Shepard said, with a mixture of surprise and fear for his friend.

"_We've tried, but no one can get a message out, and the Illusive Man didn't tell us where Kaidan is_," said Joker over the loudspeaker.

Shepard mentally cursed at the Illusive Man.

"Tell him I'm on my way," said Shepard angrily, and headed towards the elevator.

* * *

><p>"How dare you not tell me my friend might be in danger," yelled Shepard.<p>

"I needed a reason to get you to come down here and talk to me," said the Illusive Man on the holoconference.

"My friend is in danger from being abducted by the Collectors, along with all the colonists on the planet and you withhold information that could allow me to warn them and possibly save their lives. I thought we were supposed to be on the same side," said Shepard.

"We have to act on this, the Collectors haven't started their attack but we need to act fast, you need to get to Horizon now," said the Illusive Man.

"Fine, but be warned, if we're working together, you need to be straight with me. If I have to work with Cerberus, you tell me the truth, especially when it involves my friends, understand," said Shepard with a very pointed stare.

"Duly noted, I don't want to destroy any trust here," said the Illusive Man, and the signal cut out.

Shepard walked away, letting a small smile come to his face. He was glad he recruited Garrus and Kasumi to help find all to find all the bugs on Deck 1, plus he had started keeping his video logs in a special encrypted flash drive made by Tali. He didn't trust the Illusive Man any farther than he could throw him, but he needed to keep up the act since Cerberus is the one with the resources to take down the Collectors.

"EDI," said Shepard.

"_Yes Commander_," said EDI.

"Call up Joker, we're heading to Horizon to save some colonists," said Shepard, and he headed into the tech lab.

The door opened and Shepard walked into the lab, looking at Mordin, working hard on various things.

"Tell me the counter-measure is ready," said Shepard.

Mordin turned to Shepard and smiled, "Indeed it is, take a look," and demonstrated its effectiveness.

"Will not work in large swarms though, but will help cloak from good amount," said Mordin.

"Good thing we're going to have a perfect place to field test it," said Shepard.

"Must insist on coming with you, counter-measure is fully ready but in case things go wrong, I developed a vaccine for paralysis caused by seeker swarms which will last until counter-measure comes back online in case of failure. Only three doses synthesized, too busy perfecting counter-measure to create more," said Mordin.

"Good, I could use your tech skills; Garrus will be joining us as well on this mission. We'll be arriving in just a few minutes, so have everything ready," said Shepard.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile on Horizon<em>

"Lilith, we got a problem," said Kaidan.

"Still can't calibrate the targeting matrix," Lilith replied.

"And those defense towers won't work until we fix it," said Kaidan.

"Sorry Commander, but repairing our comm. systems takes priority," said Lilith.

"I'm surprised that the colonists haven't blamed me for that as well," said Kaidan.

"People out here don't trust the Alliance, don't take it personally," replied Lilith.

"What's that," said one of the colonists, pointing towards something in the sky.

Kaidan turned towards where the man was pointing, and pulled out his rifle, looking through the scope at the thing in the sky.

His eyes widened and he said, "Get everyone to the safe-house. GO!"

Kaidan saw a bunch of bugs heading towards him and the colonists and then started to open fire.

"Run," he yelled to the colonists.

He saw Lilith fall to the ground and helped her up telling her to run. He felt one of the bugs land on him and bite him. He flicked it off and reached for his gun again, only for him to become frozen.

Lilith and the rest of the colonists continued to run, only to be stopped by the rest of the swarm.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime later<em>

The Kodiak entered the atmosphere of Horizon and landed on the surface. Shepard, Mordin, and Garrus all stepped out and took a look around. Shepard pulled out his M-96 Matlock and surveyed the area.

"Mordin, are you absolutely sure the counter-measure will work," said Shepard.

"Probably, in theory," answered Mordin.

"Well, that's real reassuring," joked Garrus.

"We'll be fine," said Shepard, and the group headed out.

They found a group of Collectors along the way, but quickly dispatched them. They continued on their warpath until they came across a dead husk.

"Former humans, Collectors must have turned colonists into husks," said Mordin.

"Not possible, the geth impaled their victims on giant spikes to turn them into husks, and we haven't come across any. The husks were most likely premade by the Collectors; the colonists were most likely taken alive by them for another purpose," said Garrus.

"The Collectors aren't getting away with more victims. Let's move out," said Shepard.

The trio continued and ran into more Collectors.

"We got hostiles incoming," said Shepard.

Garrus pulled out his sniper rifle and Mordin pulled out his Phalanx Heavy Pistol to get ready for anything.

"Take cover," yelled Shepard, and a hail of fire from Collector assault rifles rained down on them.

Shepard switched to cryo ammo and opened fire, freezing the Collectors and causing them to shatter, Garrus popped of a couple concussion shots and Mordin hit them with Incinerate, making the rest of the group as easy as taking pot shots at tin cans on a fence (heh, Southern proverbs).

"All clear," said Garrus.

"Fan out, look for any of the colonists," said Shepard.

"Found one, stasis field paralysis, movement impaired but senses still active, fascinating," said Mordin.

"Can we give him the vaccine," said Shepard.

"Not good idea, only 3 doses, should save for future conflict," said Mordin.

"These people need help," said Shepard.

"Shepard, I want to save these people as much as you do, but keeping these vaccines might keep us alive," said Garrus.

(**Paragon Interrupt**)

"These people need to be saved. John said so himself, what these people might suffer might be a fate worse than death if we just leave them," said Shepard.

"Are you sure," said Mordin.

"Give me a dose," said Shepard, holding out his hand.

Mordin sighed and handed Shepard one of the doses of vaccine.

"How does it work," said Shepard.

"Just inject victim, cure is instantaneous but will only last an hour or two however," said Mordin.

Shepard unfastened the syringe and stuck it into the man's neck.

The man stopped glowing with a weird aura, fell to the ground, and gasped.

"Are you alright," asked Shepard.

"What the hell happened to me," said the man.

"We were hoping you could tell us," said Garrus.

"All I remember was that swarm, getting bitten, and then I couldn't move. Then I watched those giant insects start taking away the others," said the man, "Oh god, the others, you have to save them."

"We'll do everything we can, but right now you need to find a place to hide. That stuff we injected you with will only last for an hour or so and we need to get you somewhere safe," said Garrus.

"Well, there's an old safehouse just a little ways away from where we are, we get there I'm sure we'll be safe," said the man.

"Alright let's go," said Garrus.

"Wait," said Shepard, and he turned to the man, "I'm looking for someone, an Alliance military officer named Kaidan Alenko, have you seen him."

The man thought for a second and said, "I heard that there was an Alliance Officer here but I don't know where he is, sorry I can't be more help."

Shepard frowned but said, "It's alright; let's get you to that safehouse. What's your name by the way?"

"Dillinger, Jacob Dillinger," said the man.

"Alright Jacob, lead the way," said Shepard.

* * *

><p>The group headed out and headed into a small quarry.<p>

"All clear," said Shepard.

They then came to a large door, locked with some sort of code lock.

"Hang on, I can hack this," said Shepard, bringing up his omni-tool.

"Don't bother, I got the password," said Jacob, turning on his omni-tool.

The door opened after a small wait and the group headed inside.

"Okay, lock the door and don't come out of here until we call…," Shepard started, before seeing movement behind a small container.

He pulled out his pistol and said, "Come on out, hands where I can see em."

The man hiding behind the crate came out and said, "You're-You're human. What are you doing here, you'll lead those things out there right to us."

"Tom, you're alive," said Jacob.

"Jacob, I thought those things got you," said Tom.

"I was attacked by this giant swarm of insects, I was bitten and frozen in place, along with everyone else. Then, I saw a bunch of weird looking aliens take everyone up to a giant ship," said Jacob.

"The aliens you're talking about are the Collectors, you two are lucky you're not in their ship hold right now," said Shepard.

"The Collectors a real? I thought that was just Alliance propaganda to keep us in Citadel space. Wait, those things have Lilith, and Sten too, you have to save them," said Tom.

"Calm down, we'll do the best we can, but I need to know if you've seen an Alliance Commander named Kaidan Alenko," said Shepard.

"Oh yeah him," Tom said with disdain, "Ever since he came here, things have been terrible. He said he was here for an outreach program but he made us build those defense towers out there that can't even fire at a target because the damn targeting matrix doesn't even work. Almost all the planet's power goes towards powering those goddamned paperweights, and now a bunch of aliens that I thought were urban myths are attacking us and abducting everyone and we can't do anything to stop it. We were just fine until the Alliance came and mucked everything up."

"The Alliance aren't the people to blame here, but we need to get those towers online," said Shepard.

"Well, like I said, the targeting matrix is shot, it won't work," said Tom.

"If we got the matrix going, could we take out the ship," said Garrus.

"I suppose, but no one can get it online, no matter what we've tried," said Tom.

"Shepard, have an idea. If we can get communications online I know someone who may be able to calibrate the matrix from the Normandy," said Mordin.

Shepard immediately knew what Mordin's idea, and knew that, while risky, it was the only shot they had.

"Is there any way to get communication systems online," asked Shepard.

"Well, there's an old transmitter near the targeting matrix consoles, if you can get it online you should be able to send a message," said Jacob.

"Okay, I'm unlocking the doors, but I'm relocking them behind you, I'm not taking any chances," said Tom.

"That's a good idea, but if someone else tries to get in, hide, unless they give you a password. The password will be Jenkins (anyone who played ME 1 knows who he is), now good luck and stay hidden," said Shepard.

"Good luck to you too, you're gonna need it," said Tom, bringing up his Omni-tool to unlock the opposite door.

"As if we didn't know that already," joked Garrus.

* * *

><p>The door opened and the 3 Musketeers readied their weapons and headed out into the swarms yet again, hearing the door close and lock behind them.<p>

They continued to walk down the pathway until they heard a distinct, "Assuming direct control."

"Find cover, NOW," yelled Shepard.

A large amount of Collector rifle fire rained down on the group and a large pulse of energy came towards them from a Scion. Shepard switched on incendiary ammo and opened fire, taking out swarms of husks and the Scion, then switched back to cryo ammo and froze the Collectors and turned his fire onto the one controlled by whatever it was that was controlling them.

"Mordin, hit it with Incinerate," yelled Shepard.

"On it," said Mordin, and hit them with it with a fiery blast.

The three then unleashed hell on the last few Collectors and after it was done they took a small breath and Mordin went to scout out the next area.

"Whew, and I thought this was going to be hard," said Garrus.

"This seems oddly easy, almost too easy," said Shepard.

"Shepard, found soldier, Alliance military from the looks of his armor," yelled Mordin from up ahead.

Shepard and Garrus rushed towards Mordin and sure enough they found the frozen body of Kaidan Alenko. Frozen in stasis, reaching for his assault rifle, Garrus and Shepard were very surprised.

"I need another dose of the vaccine," said Shepard, and when Mordin handed him the syringe, he injected it into Kaidan's neck.

The stasis field faded and Kaidan fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"Wh-What happened," said Kaidan, and when he looked up, "Shepard, is that you?"

"You were expecting someone else," said Shepard.

"I thought you were dead," said Kaidan.

"Alenko, you should know by now that not even death himself can keep Shepard from fighting the Reapers," joked Garrus.

"Garrus, you're here too," said Kaidan.

"Can you stand," said Shepard.

"Y-Yeah," said Kaidan.

"Alright, you need to get to safety. There's a safe house just down that way, to get in just say Jenkins," said Shepard.

"No, I'm not going to sit around and wait. Those things, whatever they are, are taking these colonists and those colonists are my responsibility," said Kaidan.

"Those things are the Collectors, and the thing we just injected you with only protects you from these swarms for an hour Alenko. You need to run," said Garrus.

"Then how are you three out here, protected," said Kaidan.

"Mordin, can you give Kaidan's armor the counter-measure," said Shepard.

"No, would take too long, plus Lieutenant's armor isn't properly calibrated so even if we had time, I still couldn't," said Mordin.

"Well, that's just dandy," said Kaidan.

"Kaidan, I'm begging you, we'll do the best we can but you need to get to that safe house," said Shepard.

"Fine, but after these things leave, you and I need to have a chat Shepard," said Kaidan.

"We will, but please go, and remember the password is Jenkins," said Shepard.

Kaidan headed off towards the safe house and Shepard and his group headed back on the path towards the transmitter.

A short while later, the group made it to the terminals, looking for the communications relay.

"I think I got something," said Garrus.

"This is definitely it, Mordin see if you can connect to the Normandy," said Shepard.

Mordin brought up his Omni-tool and sure enough, a signal managed to pierce through.

"Normandy, this is Shepard, do you read," said Shepard.

"_Thank god Commander, we were all getting worried_," Joker said over the intercom.

"EDI, we have a couple defense towers here with a faulty targeting matrix, is there anything we can do to get it online," said Shepard.

"_It is entirely possible that the error can be corrected, however, fully powering the towers will take some time_," said EDI over the intercom.

"We don't have much, but start the process and get those towers operational," said Shepard.

"_Corrections commencing. Alert, there are a large amount of Collectors heading towards your position. You will need to keep this transmitter active if you wish to keep the process going_," said EDI.

"I told you it was too easy," said Garrus.

"I was the one who said that," said Shepard, "We need to find a place to hunker down and fast."

The group headed towards a small wall surrounded by a couple stairs, waiting for anything that the Collectors could throw at them.

Garrus pulled out his sniper rifle and searched for anything through his scope.

"I don't see anything yet," said Garrus, "Wait, hang on, WE GOT LARGE AMOUNTS OF HOSTILES COMING RIGHT AT US!"

"Get ready, Garrus, you take out anyone you can with your sniper rifle, Mordin, get out your pistol and keep any husks that come near us away from us, I'll take out anything I can with my assault rifle," said Shepard.

"Got it," said Garrus.

"Affirmative," said Mordin.

"3, 2, 1 fire," yelled Shepard.

A large fight broke out between the group of 3 and a large swarm of Collectors and Husks.

"Scoped and dropped," said Garrus, as he took out another Collector with a headshot.

"This is great," said Shepard.

"Yes, quite invigorating," said Mordin, taking out another husk.

"Scions," yelled Shepard and he saw 3 pulses of simultaneous energy heading towards them. He and Mordin crouched down in time but Garrus wasn't as lucky. The turian was blasted off his feet and knocked out.

"Garrus, GARRUS," said Shepard, shaking his friend's body.

"Mr. Vakarian is down but, as you humans say, definitely not out," said Mordin after doing an examination, "A quick application of medi-gel should get him back on his feet."

Shepard brought up his Omni-tool and activated the Unity function. Garrus' shields came back online and he stood back up, rubbing his shoulder.

"Get back down," said Shepard to the group.

Shepard switched on the incendiary ammo and unloaded the last of his clips into the Scions. The three of them went down hard and the group took a momentary breather.

"EDI, where are we on those towers," said Shepard.

"_Progress is almost complete. Alert, hostile reinforcements inbound_," said EDI.

"And just as run out of thermal clips for my assault rifle, perfect," said Shepard.

"Find cover," asked Garrus in a joking tone.

"Yeah," said Shepard.

Another group came but was quickly dispatched by the 3, leaving them with no hostiles in sight.

"_Progress almost complete_," said EDI.

Shepard searched nearby areas for any thermal clips he could find for his assault rifle when he heard a loud noise coming from the direction of the Collector ship. He saw a large metallic thing coming towards him and the others. He saw it had lots of faces ingrained into its bottom, they looked like multiple husks. Shepard didn't know what it was, but whatever it was, it had a large amount of barriers and armor if the scans on his heads up display could tell him anything.

He yelled to the others to run but it was too late. Two beams were fired at him from the creature's eyes and his kinetic shields barely held up. He found a piece of cover while his shields recharged and the others opened fire against the creature.

Garrus' concussive shot and Mordin's Incinerate took out the things barrier, but their weapon fire was doing nothing to the thing's armor.

"It's like firing BBs at a tank," Shepard said under his breath.

Luckily he had a backup plan, his new missile launcher.

He ran towards the others and pulled out the launcher and aimed it at the creature.

"Is that the missile launcher, that modification that cryo boy made hasn't been tested," said Garrus.

"Then this is a great time to do so," said Shepard.

He aimed the target light at the creature and pressed the button, only for the button to not go down.

"It's not working," said Garrus.

"You think I don't notice that. Joker, get John on the line," said Shepard.

"_On it Commander_," said Joker.

"_This is Desmond_," John said over the comlink after a few minutes.

"John, the modification isn't working; the button seems to be jammed," said Shepard.

"_I tried to warn you guys when I found out you guys took the launcher, but I couldn't get a message through. During a routine maintenance, Jacob and I decided to fully test it in the holding bay. The modification has a delay, you need to keep it on the target for a few seconds, when the light starts blinking the target lock mechanism is ready and all you have to do is press the button for the locking mechanism to lock on the target_," said John.

"Anything else we need to know," said Shepard.

"_Yes, if you break the connection for even a second, the locking mechanism resets and you'll have to create the connection again_," said John.

"Good to know," said Garrus.

"Me and Garrus will draw creature's attention while you get lock," said Mordin.

"Alright let's do it," said Shepard.

"Of course I get to be on the suicidal team of the plan," said Garrus, before hopping out of cover, pulling out his assault rifle, and yelled, "Hey ugly, over here."

"Go Shepard, and I would firmly suggest you hurry," said Mordin, pulling out his SMG.

He popped out of cover and started firing, with Shepard aiming the target light at the creature.

"Come on Come on," said Shepard.

"Hurry it up Shepard," said Garrus.

"Few more seconds," yelled Shepard.

Luck was on their side and the target light started blinking.

"Got it," said Shepard.

He pressed the button and the lock was made.

"Get out of the way," said Shepard, and Garrus and Mordin ran.

Shepard fired 4 rockets from the launcher, all going to the creature. The scans showed that the rockets were doing damage to the things armor. That was when the creature started glowing.

"Look out," yelled Shepard, and the creature slammed into the ground knocking everyone on their backs.

Shepard looked at the scans and saw that the barriers were back up on that thing.

"Garrus, Mordin, take out those barriers," said Shepard.

"On it," yelled Garrus, and he and Mordin once again opened fire, taking out the barrier again.

The creature fired the beams out of its eyes again towards Shepard and he took cover, firing missiles up into the air which arced towards the creature. It slammed into the ground, reactivated its barriers, and Mordin and Garrus took them out again. Shepard fired more missiles and the cycle continued, at least until the creature turned its attention towards Garrus and Mordin.

Mordin saw what it was about to do and pushed Garrus out of the way, taking the full force of the blast from the creature's eyes, which knocked him down and destroyed his shields. Mordin then falls to the ground, unconscious.

"Solus," yelled Garrus, and he rushed to Mordin's side.

"Shepard, he's barely breathing," yelled Garrus.

Shepard continued firing rockets at the creature while Garrus moved Mordin safely into cover. The creature's armor was continually worn down until it let out a large roar and disintegrated in a large blue light.

"I should really talk to John about getting rid of this things delay," said Shepard.

"Shepard, I need medi-gel here," said Garrus.

Shepard moved towards the two and started prepping a dose of medi-gel. He quickly applied it and Mordin woke up, but found he was having a hard time getting up. Garrus offered his hand, and helped Mordin up, with him clutching his side.

"Don't worry about me. Blast knocked me down and maybe broke ribs, but otherwise injuries superficial," said Mordin, weakly smiling.

"_Towers are fully powered and online_," said EDI.

"Fire them, take out that ship now," yelled Shepard.

The towers turned towards the ship and opened fire on it, blowing small chunks of it off it. The ship began to take off heading away from the planet. The 3 saw the ship leave the planet's atmosphere and then it was gone.

"No, you have to stop that ship," said Tom, running towards them.

"There was nothing we could do, I'm sorry," said Shepard.

"Half the colony is in there, they got Eagan and Sten and Lilith, you can't just let them get away," yelled Tom.

"Tom please, calm down," said Jacob, appearing behind the group.

"If it wasn't for Shepard, you and Jacob would be on that ship, as well as the other half of this colony's population," said Garrus.

"Shepard. I know that name, you were some big Alliance hero, I knew they had something to do with this," said Tom.

"The Alliance had nothing to do with this," said Shepard.

"Tom, if it wasn't for this man, I would be in that ship," said Jacob, hoping to calm his friend down.

"And also if it wasn't for this man, the galaxy would have been destroyed by now. This is Commander Shepard, Lion of Elysium and Savior of the Citadel. You're in the presence of a legend, and a ghost," said Kaidan, finding everyone.

"Pfft, figures that with all the good people in this colony, you're one of the people left behind. Come on Jacob, let's go see who's left," said Tom, making an abrupt exit.

"I'm sorry about him, not a whole lot of people trust the Alliance, and with this happening…I'm sorry," said Jacob, running after his friend.

"Well now I've got about 3000 reports to file to the Council about this incident. But, Commander…it's good to see you, I thought you were dead, we all did," said Kaidan, holding his hand out.

"It's great to finally see you again Kaidan," said Shepard, shaking his hand.

"That's it, after two years, two years, that's all I get out of you," said Kaidan angrily.

"Where have you been, why didn't you tell me you were alive this entire time," said Kaidan.

"Don't blame me, I really was dead, and Cerberus spent the last two years rebuilding me," said Shepard.

"So, it really was true, you're with Cerberus, Garrus too," said Kaidan.

"What do you mean, it was true," said Garrus.

"There were rumors that you two were working with Cerberus, and I didn't believe it until now. How can you work with them, especially after everything they've done, you've seen it with your own eyes," said Kaidan.

Shepard shut off his comm. link, and the others did the same.

"I'm not working for them Kaidan, the only reasons why me and Garrus are working with them is because they are the only ones with the resources to stop the Collectors, who are working with the Reapers," said Shepard.

"How do you know that, maybe they're just using that to keep you at bay. Maybe they're the ones who are working with the Collectors, did you ever consider that? I would've followed you through hell Shepard, but this. This is a huge betrayal," said Kaidan.

"You want to talk about betrayal," said Shepard angrily, "I saw the video of my funeral and Garrus told me what you said," causing Kaidan to pale.

""The Reapers were a manifestation of his stress", "He worked too hard and the Reapers were a convenient excuse". You made my warnings sound like crazy babble. Garrus defended me, Tali defended me, Wrex defended me, Liara defended me, Anderson defended me, Joker and Doctor Chakwas defended me, and you didn't. You were my friend, and you went behind my back and made me sound like I was crazy. DO you actually the Reapers are coming, that they even exist," yelled Shepard.

"I wanted to punch you after what you did and you remember what Tali tried to do to you," said Garrus, "I don't trust Cerberus any more than most people, but I trust Shepard and so do Joker and Chakwas, which is why they, and myself, joined him. Even Tali has agreed to join us after she finishes her mission and her people hate Cerberus with a freaking passion, but she trusts Shepard and so do I."

"Come on guys, let's get out of here, Mordin needs medical attention anyway," said Shepard and the group walked off, leaving Kaidan behind.

* * *

><p>Shepard reactivated his comm. link and called Joker to send down the Kodiak. The group walked over to the landing platform and waited for the shuttle.<p>

"Wait," came a voice from behind them.

Shepard turned and saw Kaidan standing behind them, "Shepard, I'm sorry for what I've done, but you have to know that I didn't do it by choice."

"Really, than why did you do it," said Shepard.

"Like I said, I had no choice," said Kaidan.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback 2 years ago<em>

"I was there, I was one of the last people who saw him," said Kaidan, "He saved Joker's life but he killed himself in the process."

"I know it's hard Kaidan, but we have to accept he's gone," said Liara.

"How could you say that, I just have to accept my Commanding Officers death with a smile," said Kaidan.

"Calm down Alenko, Joker is upset enough; he was the last one to see Shepard alive, do you think this is easier for him," said Garrus.

"Yeah and if he hadn't been so stubborn, and just left the ship, Shepard would still be alive," said Kaidan.

"How can you say that Kaidan, I know you still feel guilty about Chief Williams' death on Virmire, but that's no reason for taking it out on Joker," said Tali.

"Ashley's death has nothing to do with this," said Kaidan.

"We all know you had a crush on her, no way you can deny it," said Wrex.

"T-That's not true," said Kaidan.

"Kaidan, I saw the way you looked at her," said Tali, putting her hand on his shoulder, "Please, I know you cared about her a great deal, please understand that, and I know hers and Shepard's death are weighing on you. You and Shepard were great friends, and I'm sure you confided in him a lot, but please don't take this out on Joker."

Kaidan began to cry, and Liara, Garrus, and Tali embraced him, Wrex staying out of it so he wouldn't look like a sissy.

"I loved her, and Shepard was my best friend, how can I still continue," said Kaidan.

The group hug broke up and Liara looked at him, "You can honor their memories."

Just after that, Kaidan's Omni-tool rang and he brought it up.

"It's the Council, they want to talk to me," said Kaidan.

"Bye guys," said Kaidan, and the others waved goodbye.

* * *

><p><em>A short time later<em>

"It was good of you to come Lieutenant Alenko," said the asari councilor.

"Why am I here, and where is the salarian councilor, and Anderson and Udina," said Kaidan.

"Anderson wanted to get to know the people he will be working with, he asked Leonidas to meet him for a little one on one," said the turian councilor.

"He and Anderson have nothing to do with this right now," said the asari councilor.

"We called you here to discuss Shepard, and his "warnings"," said the turian councilor.

"He perpetuated the tales of these "machines from dark space" till the very end didn't he," said the turian councilor.

"We're concerned that his…beliefs, will cause hysteria, especially with his recent death," said the asari councilor.

"What are you talking about," said Kaidan.

"His tales about the "Reapers" have appeared in numerous news articles and reports. People are becoming scared," said the turian councilor.

"And why shouldn't they, the Reapers are coming and we need to prepare," said Kaidan.

"So, he's brainwashed you too," said the turian councilor.

"Brainwashed me, I saw the beacon on Ilos with my own eyes, and another thing, if you hadn't sent us to root out "geth rebels" that didn't exist, Shepard would still be alive right now," said Kaidan angrily.

"No matter how much we tell the public nothing is wrong, they still follow Shepard's ideals. They don't believe us, but they would believe one of Shepard's squadron," said the asari councilor.

"What are you saying," said Kaidan.

"Shepard's funeral is coming up, and if you tell the world that the Reapers aren't real, they'll stop believing in these fairy tales," said the turian councilor.

"You're asking me to discredit everything that Shepard warned us about. Forget it, I would never betray him like that," said Kaidan.

"He's dead, he doesn't care," said the turian councilor.

"You obviously never had friends growing up Councilor," said Kaidan.

"Jalik, please calm down," said the asari councilor to the turian councilor.

"Lieutenant, we're not asking you to betray your commanding officer, we just want you to ease the public's mind," said the asari councilor.

"Forget it, we're done here," said Kaidan, and he got up to leave.

"Lieutenant, I wouldn't advise that, since we have something else to say," said the turian councilor.

"What else," said Kaidan.

"Your friend Tali'Zorah has sensitive military information; legally we can charge her with espionage. Your friend Liara T'Soni; her mother Benezia betrayed the Council just like Saren, we have the right to incarcerate her to make sure she doesn't betray us either. C-Sec Officer Garrus Vakarian continued an investigation even after direct orders from Executor Palin to cease it so his badge is on the line," said the turian councilor.

"You can't do this, Shepard gave that data about the geth to Tali to help her people, which is more than I can say for what you've done for the quarians, Liara would never betray the Alliance, and Garrus' investigation got us the information on Saren. They are heroes, and Shepard saved your lives and the Destiny Ascension, how can you be so underhanded," said Kaidan.

"The public's minds needs to be soothed after the fire your Commander started, and your fellow members refuse to help. You can either tell everyone that your Commander's tales were a bunch of crap, or you can watch as 3 of your fellow team members rot in C-Sec Penitentiary. Shepard really cared about that quarian girl didn't he, do you know what would happen to a quarian in a C-Sec prison," said the turian councilor.

"Please no! I-I'll do it, I'll tell the world that the Reapers were a figment of his stress-induced mind, but please, just leave Liara, Garrus, and Tali out of this," said Kaidan, shouting the first sentence and finished the second sentence quietly.

"Good, by the way, you're being reassigned after this," said the turian councilor.

"You're doing a good thing Lieutenant," said the asari councilor.

Kaidan wasn't listening as he sat there, not believing what he was about to do to Shepard.

"_I'm so sorry, Shepard_," thought Kaidan.

* * *

><p><em>A few days later<em>

"Shepard was an amazing soldier, we must never forget the sacrifices he made to save the Citadel and the galaxy from the Reaper threat, he will always be remembered as an amazing man, a man who out of anyone, chose me to represent humanity in the Galactic Council, I will always remember the young man who came on to the Normandy on the mission to Virmire, I'm glad to have met an amazing officer such as him. We must never forget his warnings, the Reapers are coming, and we must prepare. I'd like to thank you all for your time, and thank you all for coming here to honor Shepard," finished Anderson.

Admiral Hackett took the stand and said, "Thank you Councilor for your words, and thank you Miss Zorah, Miss T'Soni, Mr. Vakarian, Mr. Moreau, Doctor Chakwas, and Urdnot Wrex for your words as well. And now, another very good friend of Commander Shepard would like to say a few words. Please welcome, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

Kaidan took the stand and said morosely, "Thank you Admiral for your introduction, and thank you all for honoring the Commander. I was a close friend of Commander Shepard; I was one of the first people to join his team, I was there with him on Eden Prime, I was there with him on Ilos, I was with him every step of the way. He was my friend, and that friendship grew stronger when he helped me deal with the grief of the loss of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, a woman that I loved, on the shores of Virmire. And as his friend I saw how the stress he dealt with everyday. The Reapers were a manifestation of that stress. He worked really hard and when it became too much the Reapers were just an excuse. I begged him on multiple occasions to see a counselor to deal with his stress, but he refused to listen, saying that the Reapers needed to be stopped at any costs. He made everyone believed they existed, so he woMy friend died as an overworked man who needed help, died believing that the Reapers existed, I wish I could've helped him before it was too late."

The crowd looked at him with shock, while the two councilors sat in the audience smiling, and Kaidan stepped down from the podium.

The funeral had ended a short time later, and as Kaidan walked out, he was assaulted by reporters.

"Lieutenant Alenko, is it true that Commander Shepard, Savior of the Citadel, concocted the Reaper threat?"

"Mr. Alenko, is it true that Commander Shepard lied to the galactic public as a whole?"

"Mr. Alenko, why didn't Commander Shepard get the help he desperately needed?"

"Commander Shepard was my friend, but he was a stubborn man. I tried to save him, but he refused any help I tried to give, now he dies before I can save him, how I wish I had," said Kaidan.

"YOU BASTARD," said a voice from behind him.

Kaidan turned and saw Tali with what he suspected was an angry look on his face.

"How could you do this, he was your friend, he trusted you, and you betray him like this! I hate you you bosh'tet, how could you do this," yelled Tali.

"How could you do this Alenko, Shepard trusted you better than anyone," said Garrus.

"How could you tarnish his memory, after everything he did for you," said Liara.

"If there weren't people watching, I would kill you myself," said Wrex.

"You son of a bitch," said Joker.

"I'm sorry," said Kaidan quietly and he left.

* * *

><p>"I had no choice, if I didn't say those things, they would've put Liara, Tali, and Garrus in jail. My father served as a C-Sec warden and when I was little, he took me to his job for Take Your Child To Work Day. I was bored out of my mind so I explored, and walked into the prison infirmary. There was a quarian woman there, dying from a mortal wound and an infection because she was stabbed in the prison yard. She begged for someone to hold her hand and I was the only one there, so I held it. She asked for my name and I gave to her, she said it was an amazing name, and that she was glad someone was kind to her before she died. She died shortly afterwards, and I was forced from the room. She was serving a 1 month sentence for vagrancy, and her life was taken and no one gave a damn. I couldn't let that happen to Tali, or Garrus or Liara, I had no choice," said Kaidan, finishing the story.<p>

"And you truly believed that the salarian councilor had nothing to do with it," asked Shepard.

"Yes, the turian and the asari councilors were the only ones involved. Anderson and the salarian councilor had nothing to do with it. I'm sorry Shepard, but I had to do it, please believe me," said Kaidan.

"After what you did, I'm not sure I can fully trust your story. But I still have some trust for the man who I saved on Virmire, who I helped when he was grieving the loss of a woman he loved, and I know that he would never do what I saw without good reason," said Shepard, and he turned off his comm again, "You're my friend Kaidan, and please understand that I would never work with Cerberus without good reason. I hate Cerberus, much more than most people, but surely you can understand I need to stop the Collectors. I trust you, and I need you to trust me," said Shepard.

"You're right Shepard, I know you would never do this without good reason. I should've trusted your judgment from the beginning , especially after what I've done. Garrus, could you ever forgive me," said Kaidan.

"After what you did, I'm not so sure. But I should've guessed the Council was dirty, especially after I was demoted in C-Sec. What you did however, will be hard to forgive, lord knows Tali will find it impossible, but I understand that you were forced to. I'll forgive you, but only if you agree to help Hackett and Anderson nail those two for blackmailing you into silence. Do you promise," said Garrus.

"It will be hard, the Council has been monitoring me for a while to make sure I wouldn't tell anyone. Plus, we would be going up against two members of the Citadel Council, which will make us a lot of enemies with the asaris and the turians when the day of the final battle comes. But, I will promise to agree to help Anderson, Leonidas, and Hackett take them down. Those two forced me to ruin your legacy, and I want revenge. The only reason why I'm staying with the Alliance is because I still believe in them, but the Council will lose two of its prominent members even it costs me my tags," said Kaidan.

"There's the Kaidan Alenko I know," said Garrus, smiling.

"Thanks Shepard, for everything," said Kaidan, holding out his hand again.

"It was great seeing you again Kaidan, hope you can stay in touch," said Shepard, shaking his hand.

"Not for a while, I have to fill out a lot of reports about what happened here, and I need to make amends with Wrex, Liara, Chakwas, Joker, and Tali especially," said Kaidan.

"We'll help you with Tali, Joker, and Chakwas, but Wrex and Liara however will be your problem because I haven't seen them in two years," said Shepard.

"It's alright, it's better if I do this myself," said Kaidan.

The Kodiak landed and Garrus, Shepard, and Mordin stepped into the shuttle.

"Take care Commander, and good luck," said Kaidan, smiling.

"You too Lieutenant, you too," said Shepard, smiling back.

The shuttle then took off and headed back towards the Normandy.

Kaidan then walked off to find Jacob, he was sure his own Omni-tool was bugged and he had a message to send to Anderson.

* * *

><p><em>Back on the Normandy<em>

"I knew Kaidan would never do what he did willingly," said Chakwas.

"Are you sure he can be trusted Commander," said Joker.

"I'm sure, he would never betray me willingly, and what I just learned about two of our resident Councilors is big. This needs to go public, but right now we need to focus on the mission, and I need to get into contact with Tali and tell her the true story about Kaidan, Garrus can you come with me," said Shepard.

"Of course Commander," said Garrus.

"Can you believe this," said Shepard as the two walked, "First the Collectors are monitoring humanity before the Mass relays and now this."

"Shepard you should know by now that uncovering conspiracies for us is, as you humans say, just another day at the office," joked Garrus as they walked into the elevator, "But you are right, who knows what else we'll uncover if we keep going. I guess the question is, who can we trust?"

* * *

><p><em>(<em>_**Author's Note**__)_

After weeks of working, I'm finally done, thank god. For the reasons I gave the councilors names is because honestly I'm sick of referring to them as just councilors. The conspiracy story will either be expanded upon in this story, or maybe I might do a small spin-off story after this fic is done. The fic is currently going on hiatus while I write the next chapter for my story, LH: All In The Family, so don't expect an update for a while. Rest assured however, I am not abandoning this fic by any stretch of the imagination.

So Review please, peace in the Middle East, Stephen Colbert for President, and all that from gale1243


	10. Shepard Interlude 2: Haestrom

**The Cryonic Man**

Shepard Interlude 2: Haestrom

A bit of foreword

This is my first story so please no flames.

I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).

I do however claim ownership of the characters I create

This will probably be terrible and short, but to advance the actual story of this fic, I need to do this part of the game. (What, did you think all that stuff about conspiracies was the main story?)

* * *

><p><em>The Citadel<em>

"How dare they do that," said Leonidas.

"This is a betrayal of the highest order, how dare they blackmail you into slandering Shepard," said Anderson.

"I have to show the universe how corrupt those two truly are," said Kaidan.

"Councilor, will you agree to help us," said Anderson.

The salarian councilor (AKA Leonidas) sighed and said, "I've been working with those two for several years; those two have been good friends to me throughout most of them. But…Shepard saved my life during the Battle of the Citadel just as he saved the other 20,000 civilians on the Destiny Ascension. The galaxy has been putting down humans ever since they joined the galactic public and yet when Shepard had the opportunity to give us what we deserved, he still sacrificed human lives to save ours. I owe him my life and so do those two, which they seem to have forgotten, and I need to make up for not speaking my mind for the last two years. I'm with the two of you, Jalik and Mencia need to be exposed for the conniving traitors they are."

"We're gonna have to keep this quiet, no one can know about this, especially Udina and the rest of the Council," said Anderson, "Is there anyone who knows about this besides us?"

"Just Shepard, Tali, Garrus, Liara, Joker, Wrex, and Doctor Chakwas. Admiral Hackett knows as well, and he's agreed to help us," said Kaidan.

"Remember gentlemen, once we start this there's no going back, so if any of you still have any doubts, it's best if you leave and forget this conversation ever happen," said Anderson.

"I'm not leaving," said Kaidan with conviction.

"Those two need to be stopped, the others trust me so I will get you any information I can," said Leonidas.

"Alright gentlemen, let's start planning," said Anderson.

_An investigation into corruption leads to a conspiracy that no one could have possibly imagined. Who is working with the Collectors? Who is working with Cerberus? Or could someone be possibly working with for something even worse? To be continued in Mass Effect_: _Investigation_

* * *

><p><em>The Normandy<em>

"So the Councilors blackmailed Kaidan," said Tali over the holo-messenger.

"Yeah, apparently my warnings have been causing unrest in the galactic republic. They needed to find a way to calm them down so they forced Kaidan to testify that my warnings were nothing but a product of stress," said Shepard.

"How can you believe him after what he did," said Tali.

"That was my reaction too Tali, but I wouldn't put this past them. He was saving my ass, as well as yours and Liara's, he had good reasons for doing what he did," said Garrus.

Tali sighed and said, "I'm still not sure, but I trust the two of you. If Kaidan really helps Anderson, Admiral Hackett, and the salarian councilor nail those two bosh'tets, I'll forgive him. Now Garrus, can you leave for a moment, I need to speak to Shepard privately."

Garrus let out a chuckle and said, "Alright, I'll get out of the hairs of you two lovebirds."

He left the room and Shepard turned back towards the holo-messenger and said, "How are things going on your mission?"

"Really boring, Keelah I wish I could just finish this and be there with you," said Tali.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you're going to be finished very soon. I can't wait to have you here with me," said Shepard.

"Yeah," said Tali, blushing under her mask.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile on Haestrom<em>

"The weirdest thing is that the sun on this planet is aging faster than most stars, it may even go supernova in a few months even though the star itself isn't that old," said Tali.

"That is weird," said Shepard.

They continued talking until Tali heard a large explosion coming from outside the facility.

"What the," said Tali.

"_Ma'am, we got geth platoons heading our way, you need to get to the checkpoint_," yelled Kal'Reegar over the comm-link.

"Tali, what's happening," said Shepard over the holo-messenger.

"We're being attacked by a geth patrol," said Tali, "Sorry, but I have to go."

Tali then shut off the holo-messenger and ran for the door.

* * *

><p><em>Back on the Normandy<em>

"Tali, Tali," yelled Shepard.

He then ran out of his room, finding Garrus trying to listen in to the conversation.

"Oh, uh, Shepard, I was just leaving," said Garrus.

"No time, Tali's being attacked by geth on Haestrom," said Shepard.

"What," yelled Garrus.

"Joker, we need to get Haestrom now," said Shepard.

"_On it Commander_," said Joker over the intercom.

* * *

><p><em>Later on Haestrom<em>

The Kodiak touched down and Shepard, Garrus, and Jack moved out onto the surface of the planet.

"_Shepard, our data indicates that Tali is somewhere in these ruins. There is considerable geth activity and an environmental hazard. Solar output has overwhelmed Haestrom's protective magnetosphere. Exposure to direct sunlight will damage your shields_," said EDI.

"Good to know," said Garrus.

"Alright, let's go so Shepard can do his knight in shining armor routine for his girlfriend," said Jack.

The group headed off until they walked out of the shade.

Garrus sniffed the air and said, "Hey, either of you smell something burning?"

"Oh f*%k, oh s#$& this hurts," said Jack.

"Let's run," said Shepard.

The group ran into another shady spot and patted themselves down.

"I hate this planet already," said Jack.

"That's what you get for wearing a small jacket instead of armor," said Garrus.

"F*$k off Vakarian," said Jack.

"Shut up both of you," said Shepard.

The two came to a red gate where Shepard saw a small building.

"Hang on, let me check this out," said Shepard running into the building, finding a disabled geth, a small console, and a research log. He walked over to the console and activated the unlocking mechanism on the gate, only to hear blaster fire coming from outside.

Shepard ran outside to see Garrus and Jack hiding in cover and facing off with some geth patrols.

"Incoming drop-ship," said Garrus.

"Ah, I miss fighting geth, don't you," said Garrus, as Shepard ran into cover.

"Yeah, it's been too long fellas, have you missed us," said Shepard, popping out of cover and firing his assault rifle.

Garrus pulled out his sniper rifle and opened fire on the geth, whereas Jack knocked some of them back with a biotic shockwave.

"Another one down, how many have you gotten Shepard," said Garrus.

"About two hundred more than you've gotten," said Shepard.

"Is everything a competition for you two idiots," said Jack, firing her pistol at another geth.

"You have no idea," said Garrus.

They moved forward, killing the hordes that came their way.

"We need to find an alternate path, we're roasting out here," said Garrus.

"Just stick to the shade as best you can," yelled Shepard.

"Yeah, no s*$t," said Jack.

An explosion was heard and Shepard yelled, "Rocket troopers, get down!"

Both he and Garrus pulled out their assault rifles and gunned them down.

"Yeah," yelled Garrus.

"Garrus get down," yelled Shepard, but it was too late, and Garrus was blasted back by a rocket and out of the shade.

"Jack, get Garrus out of the sun," said Shepard.

"On it," said Jack.

Jack quickly moved from cover while Shepard providing cover fire. Jack pulled Garrus into the shade and Shepard took out the last rocket trooper.

"You alright buddy," said Shepard, standing over his friend.

"Yeah, just a little shaken," said Garrus, standing back up.

"Okay let's go," said Shepard, and the group continued on.

They saw a group of geth firing on some target, and quickly took them out, grabbing the Tempest SMG.

"Help…Help please," they heard someone weakly say.

Shepard turned and found a quarian marine bleeding out.

"Oh my god, hang on I have some medi-gel," said Shepard.

"No, Tali'Zorah and her data are more important, you need to find her," said the marine, before falling down dead.

"Shepard, Tali could be anywhere, how are we gonna find her," said Garrus.

"_Hello, calling all units, this is squad leader Kal'Reegar, is there anyone still out there_," said a small communicator on the marine.

Shepard picked up the communicator and said, "This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy, I'm afraid most of your troops are dead."

"_Damn. Wait, Shepard? The Spectre Tali worked with? Don't know why you're here, but right now any organic is a welcome sight_," said the communicator.

"_Patch your radio into Channel 617 Theta_," said the communicator.

Shepard and the others quickly did so and Shepard said, "Do you need assistance?"

"_I'm fine, this was supposed to be a stealth mission so we have no clue how the geth found us. The damn solar radiation is blocking all attempts transmit data and we can't get to our ship because the damn geth have got us pinned down_," said Kal'Reegar.

"What's your current location," said Shepard

"_We're bunkered down at base camp across the valley. I left Tali'Zorah at a security shelter, then doubled back to hold the chokepoint_. _You need to get Tali out alive, if we lose that data then everyone here died for nothing. If you can extract her, we'll keep them off your ass,_" said Kal'Reegar.

"Hold your position, we'll hit their back ranks," said Shepard.

"Dropship incoming," yelled Garrus.

The group of three saw the dropship fly in and fire off two rockets, which hit the two marines guarding the door.

"No," yelled Shepard, and the three ran forward towards the door only to see a large stone column to fall, blocking the entrance.

"Damn," said Jack.

"Reegar, the door's blocked by a stone column," said Shepard.

"_Dammit, hang on, there's some demo charges in one of the buildings, if you can find them you can get inside_," said Kal'Reegar.

"Well isn't that convenient," said Garrus.

"Look you idiots, the pillar isn't more than 7 feet tall, can't we just climb over," said Jack.

"THERE'S NO TIME DAMMIT," yelled Shepard.

"_Shepard, I have scanned the area and located the demolition charages the quarian commander mentioned_," said EDI.

"Put 'em on my radar," said Shepard.

The HUD registered a new target and the three headed towards the building, past a large group of geth.

They came upon the building and found one of the demo charges and part one of Tali's journals.

"Hostiles," said Jack.

The group turned around and found cover, firing at the geth prime and his cohorts. They then ran towards the second demo charge to take out the rubble that they could easily just hop over (I mean seriously).

They found the second demo charge and quickly ran out of the room, only to find a geth ambush waiting for them.

"Garrus, take out the two rocket troopers up top, Jack, give those flame troopers a shockwave," said Shepard.

"On it," said Garrus and Jack.

Garrus blew the heads off the rocket troopers with his sniper rifle, while Jack's shockwave left the rest of the troopers wide open for a huge attack by Jack and Shepard.

"Die you walking appliances," yelled Shepard.

The rest of them were taken down easy and the group took a momentary breather.

They then made their way back to the building with the stone pillar in the entrance.

"Alright, now plant the explosives so we can go through the thing we could quite easily jump over," said Jack, sarcastically.

Shepard planted the two charges and the three quickly ran.

"Ka," said Garrus.

BOOM!

The three left cover and walked towards the newly opened entrance.

"This is how high it was," said Garrus, examining the height of the column, "We could've climbed right over this."

"Ugh, you two are such idiots," said Jack, shaking her head.

The group of 3 walked into the building where they found a half a geth trying to paw his way over to them. Shepard then fired an entire clip into the robot, causing a pool of white fluid to collect onto the ground and for it to fall over dead.

"Don't move," he said.

"Shepard, Tali's not here," said Garrus.

"Dammit, take a look around, see what you can find," said Shepard.

They took a look around, Garrus finding a Geth Pulse Rifle which he quickly picked up and equipped, and Jack found another one of Tali's journals.

"_Tali'Zorah to base camp, calling base camp_," said a console from behind them.

Shepard turned and saw the holographic display had Tali on it.

"_Hello? Is anyone still there_," said Tali.

"Tali, it's Shepard," said Shepard.

"_Shepard, thank god you're here. What are you doing here in geth space_," said Tali.

"I'm here to save a damsel in distress, where are you," joked Shepard.

"_Kal'Reegar and the rest of the marines have me holed up in the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field_," said Tali.

"The door here is locked and the console is damaged, is there any way you can get it open from your end," said Garrus.

"_Hang on,_" said Tali, and she brought up her Omni-tool, "_Let's see here, just a little more, and….got it_."

Shepard, Garrus, and Jack turned to the door to see that it was unlocked, prepped their weapons, and headed out down a hallway and into a courtyard.

* * *

><p>"Recon drones," yelled Jack.<p>

Shepard and Garrus hit them with concussive shots while Jack used biotic pull to knock them out of the sky.

Garrus saw a geth prime and hit it with overload and unleashed on it with his new pulse rifle.

"God, how I never chose to get one of these things earlier, I'll never know," said Garrus, taking out the prime.

The rest of the drones were quickly taken down and the motley crew moved forward through the small corridor.

I think that's all of them," said Jack.

They walked into a small room, where Shepard opened a safe containing some credits. He walked over to a small console to open the shutters. The shutters opened and what the three saw made them nearly crap their pants.

A geth colossus turned from attacking the observatory to look at the newly opened shutters and prepared to fire.

"Oh shi…" started Jack.

"GET DOWN," yelled Shepard.

Two rockets were fired, nearly knocking the group off their feet.

"Yep, definitely like old times," said Garrus and Shepard quickly opened the nearby door and everyone ran out.

"But remember, we had the Mako the last few times we fought those things, except for that one time," said Shepard.

"Hey, get over here and get into cover," said a voice from in front of them.

They turned to see a quarian with a bright red suit and a rocket launcher firing at the colossus.

They ran into cover and found themselves under enemy fire.

"Squad Commander Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet Marines. We talked on the radio before that dropship arrived. Still got no clue why you're here, but this ain't a time to be picky," said Kal'Reegar.

He popped out of cover to fire another rocket at the colossus, before getting back behind cover and saying, "Tali's inside over there. The geth killed the rest of my squad, and they're trying to get to her. Best I've been able to do is draw their attention."

A rocket hit their cover and momentarily shook them but they quickly shook it off and Shepard said, "How many geth are out there?"

"The geth are near platoon strength, but the colossus is the worst part. It's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself," said Kal'Reegar, "I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. I tried to move in closer, and one of the bastards punched a hole clean through my suit."

Shepard turned towards the right side of the battlefield seeing that it had tons of cover.

"What can you tell me about that way over there," said Shepard, pointing towards the right side.

"Over there is a sniper perch, and you can do some serious damage to the colossus but none of my men could get past the geth," said Kal'Reegar.

"We need to get to Tali. Got any ideas," said Shepard.

"Just one. I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet," said Kal'Reegar, "You move in close. I'll keep the colossus busy, maybe even drop its shields. With luck, you'll be able to finish it off."

"You've done enough Reegar. You don't need to throw your life away," said Shepard.

"Wasn't asking your permission, my job is to keep Tali safe and this is our best shot," said Kal'Reegar, popping out of cover.

Shepard then knocked him back down and said, "We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team."

"I'm not just going there let you go out there without help, that thing killed my squad," Kal'Reegar shot back.

"And if you want to honor your squad, you'll try to stay alive. Here, if you want to help, give me your rocket launcher and take this one," said Shepard, giving Reegar his modified missile launcher.

"This thing has a mod on it so you can fire from cover, just point it at the colossus for a few seconds and press this red button. It'll target-lock that thing and you can get back behind cover and still hit the colossus without leaving it," said Shepard.

"Alright Shepard, we'll try it your way, Keelah Sa'Lai" said Kal'Reegar, accepting the missile launcher.

"Good, if push comes to shove, just fire into the air, it will still hit the target," said Shepard.

"Got it," said Kal'Reegar, examining the new missile launcher.

Shepard pulled out his assault rifle and said, "Let's do this."

Shepard and company hopped out from behind the wall and started firing on the waves of geth and the others soon followed suit, giving Kal'Reegar time to set up the link.

"Can't we go one mission without being thrown into a suicidal situation," said Garrus.

"Yeah, but what fun would that be," said Jack.

"Fair point," said Garrus.

The 3 ran towards the catwalk on the right side of the battlefield and hugged the wall to stay out of the sun, while Kal'Reegar fully set up the link and started firing at the colossus, drawing its attention.

"Come on, let's go," yelled Jack, blasting the group of geth in their path.

Shepard pulled out the missile launcher as soon as he was in the shade, and opened fire on the colossus, drawing its attention away from Reegar, then Reegar would fire again to get its attention again Jack kept hitting it with biotics while Garrus fired on it with his assault rifle.

"Come on you son of a bitch," said Shepard.

Soon however the colossus wised up the strategy and focused completely on Shepard.

Shepard saw that the colossus was about to fire a blast and ordered his team to take cover, but Jack didn't listen. A large blast was fired and knocked Jack out, destroying her shields and causing her to start bleeding.

"Jack," yelled Shepard.

"On it," said Garrus, pulling Jack into cover.

Shepard continued the assault with Kal'Reegar while Garrus tended to Jack. Soon the colossus exploded in a huge fireball.

"YEAH!" yelled Kal'Reegar.

"How's Jack," said Shepard.

"She's hurt pretty bad," said Garrus.

"I'm just fine you idiots," said Jack, standing up with difficulty.

"Tali, are you there," said Shepard over the comm. link.

"_Yeah, hang on, I locked the door to keep the geth out, this'll only take a second_," said Tali.

The others saw the door open and ran inside to find Tali at a data console. She turned around to see Shepard, and then she ran over to him and gave him a large bear hug.

"I'm glad you're alright," said Tali.

"I'm the one who's supposed to say that," said Shepard, feeling a bit crushed by the hug he was in.

"Ahem, as much as I love this nauseating reunion, we should really get out of here before more geth patrols come," said Jack.

"Er right yes, we should really get moving. I'm glad you're all alright, good to finally see you in the flesh again Garrus," said Tali.

"Glad to finally see we're getting most of the old team back together," said Garrus.

"My mission is finally over, I just can't believe so many had to die to get this stupid data. I promised the Admiralty Board I would see this mission through, and now that I have, I can join you on Normandy. If they have a problem, they can go to hell. I just watched my entire team die," said Tali.

"Maybe not everyone," said a voice in the doorway.

"Kal," yelled Tali, who ran over to hug the marine in the doorway.

"Good to see you're alright ma'am," said Kal'Reegar.

"Your old captain's as good as you said. Damn colossus never even stood a chance," said Kal'Reggar.

"I had help, it wasn't just me," said Shepard, smiling at Garrus, Jack, and Kal.

"Regardless, I'm glad you came along when you did," said Kal'Reegar.

"Are you still alright, do you need transportation," said Garrus.

"I'm alright for right now, the colossus was keeping our team from the ship, and now that it's gone, we can get out of here safely," said Kal'Reegar.

"Actually Kal, I'm not going back, I'm going with Shepard," said Tali, wrapping her arm around his waist.

It only took Kal'Reegar a nanosecond to find out what was going on, and, with a smile hidden by his mask, said, "Of course ma'am, I'll pass along the message to Admiral Raan and give the data to the Admiralty Board."

"It was good meeting Reegar, maybe we could work together again someday," said Shepard.

"Hopefully it will be under better circumstances Shepard," said Kal'Reegar, leaving to start the trek to his ship.

"Well, we should get going. Joker, call down the Kodiak, we're getting off this sun-scorched rock," said Shepard, and the foursome move to the landing zone to head back to the Normandy.

* * *

><p><em>Much later<em>

"Cerberus has seen footage of you in action Miss Zorah. We're looking forward to having you on the team. Your engineering expertise will really benefit this mission," said Jacob.

"I don't know who you are, but Cerberus threatened the security of the Migrant Fleet. Don't make nice," said Tali.

"We don't have to like them Tali, we just need to cooperate," said Shepard.

"I assumed you were just undercover Shepard. Planning to blow Cerberus sky high, I'd even loan you the grenade to do it if that's the case. Otherwise, I'm here for you, not them," said Tali.

"That's all I'm asking for Tali," said Shepard.

"I'll be in engineering if you want to talk," said Tali.

"Be sure to say hi to Joker and Doctor Chakwas, they've both been excited to see you again," said Shepard.

"Of course," said Tali, smiling at him, and she headed out.

"Don't forget to introduce yourself to EDI. The ship's new artificial intelligence," said Jacob.

Tali then looked back at Jacob with a glare and left, swearing under her breath.

"What, what did I say," said Jacob, looking confused.

"You have a lot to learn about quarians Mr. Taylor," said Shepard, lightly chuckling.

* * *

><p><em>Later<em>

"Rotten scumbag Cerberus, stupid bosh'tets," said Tali.

She kept swearing under her breath until she crashed into a man in a shirt and jeans with a datapad in his hands.

"Watch where you're going," snapped Tali.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry about that," the man said.

He then picked up his datapad and brushed himself off.

"Sorry, I don't normally snap at people, I'm just a little on edge right now," said Tali.

The man said, "It's alright, it happens to everyone," and then looked up.

His eyes then widened and said, "Oh hi, you must be Tali'Zorah. Shepard has told me a lot about you," and shook her hand.

Tali was shocked at this and said, "Um, who are you?"

"Let me introduce myself, I'm John, John Desmond," said John.

"You're that man that they found frozen in the shuttle," said Tali.

"That's me, the Cryonic Man," said John.

Tali lightly laughed and said, "It's nice to finally meet you."

"This is great, Lia has been very excited to finally meet you," said John.

Tali couldn't wait to meet another fellow quarian who was on her Pilgrimage.

"Well if you're heading to engineering, I can come with you and introduce you to everyone," said John.

"Sounds great, um, John," said Tali.

"_Maybe this won't be so bad after all_," thought Tali with some hope.

* * *

><p>(<strong>Author's Note<strong>)

Another chapter bites the dust. Like I said, this isn't a good chapter, but it was needed to advance the main story of this fic. The next few chapters will switch back to John and Lia as I start the Illium arc of the story. And now for my almost monthly dose of announcements.

**#1**

My other fic, LH: All In the Family, will be on indefinite hiatus until I finish this fic.

**#2**

I'm going to try my best to advance the story along to a very good point before Mass Effect 3 comes out, at least I'm hoping anyway. 3 days is just the motivation I need I guess.

**#3**

After, Mass Effect 3 comes out, there won't be any chapters for a long time, for obvious reasons. (I got the Collector's Edition pre-ordered and paid for PS3, hells yeah)

**#4**

Has anyone else seen the new squadmate for Mass Effect 3 for those who got the Collector's Edition, the Protean? He looks awesome doesn't he?

As per usual, please read and review, you know the rest.


	11. Ch 7: Prejudices and Confessions Part 1

**The Cryonic Man**

Chapter 7: Introductions, Prejudices, and Confessions Part 1

A bit of foreword

This is my first story so please no flames.  
>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).<br>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create

This is the longest chapter I have ever written (hooray for me)

* * *

><p>John walked down the hall, checking the maintenance reports on his datapad, with Tali walking beside him. He talked to her after finally going over the rest of the data.<p>

"It's really great to have someone here for Lia to talk to," said John.

"From what I heard about her, she sounds really nice," said Tali.

"Well, in just a few moments you'll get to meet her in perso…DUCK," yelled John, and a piece of debris came flying over their heads.

"I thought I told you two, no kissy-kissy until you calibrate the pressure valves. Great, now the upstairs showers won't have water pressure until I get those pipes fixed, there goes my weekend, and probably my life since I'll have to deal with Jack," said John.

"How often does that happen," said Tali.

"Almost never, but when Kenneth and Gabby get busy and Lia is not around, I have to calibrate those things myself before they blow," said John.

"Well where is Lia anyway," said Tali.

"Odds are below decks, Jack must be eating lunch upstairs," said John.

"Who is this Jack anyway," said Tali.

"Jack is a woman that Shepard recruited from this prison ship, Purgatory. He told me she used biotics to blow through 2 Atlas mechs with a single blow. Shepard said he's never seen such raw biotic power. Problem being she hates Cerberus, whatever that is, with a passion, and since I'm on a Cerberus ship, she thinks I'm a part of Cerberus, and is looking for a reason to turn me into a mess on the walls," said John.

"This ship gets worse the more I hear about it," said Tali.

"Oh I don't mean for this place to sound bad, it's actually quite nice. The only people you need to worry about are Miranda, the head of Cerberus's whore, and Jack, though she might not be as hostile towards you since she knows you're here just for Shepard," said John, with a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Er ah that's not um," said Tali.

"Look you're practically all he talks about, if you don't feel that way about him that's fine," said John.

"Well, we officially got together before he died, but I'm still trying to get over the fact that he's here now after two years. But, we both love each other, and we'll work through it," said Tali.

"That's really sweet," said John with a smile, and added silently, "Kind of wish me and Lia had something like this."

"What was that," said Tali.

"Er nothing," said John.

"Yeah, nothing, and all those e-mails from Shepard about you twos daily flirt sessions has nothing to do with it," said Tali.

John put a finger to his lips, indicating for her to be silent, and looked around to be sure no one was around, seeing Lia was standing at her console.

He sighed and said, "Everyone keeps talking about my crush on her, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows except for her, and I would like very much to keep it that way."

"Why don't you just tell her how you feel," said Tali.

"She has her Pilgrimage to think about, and if she finds what she's looking for…I don't want to lose her but I don't want to get in her way by being selfish. She deserves someone of her own species that makes her happy, not a caveman. They say that when you truly love someone, you have to put them before yourself. She deserves to be happy, especially after all the ways she has been mistreated by society all these years," he finished sadly, staring at Lia.

"All quarians have dealt with prejudice one way or another, I'm no different," said Tali.

"She's been treated like a thief," said John.

"Like a vagrant," said Tali.

"Like a walking suit," said Tali and John at the same time.

They then turned to each other and chuckled slightly.

"You seem so much like Shepard, it's almost scary," said Tali.

"I've been getting that a lot from Mr. Vakarian and Joker, even some cracks from Dr. Chakwas which were unexpected," said John.

"Yeah those three can be crazy sometimes," said Tali, "Look, maybe you just need to put yourself out there, you never know, she might feel the same way."

"So, are you going to go show me to everyone," said Tali.

"Yeah, and after that I need to start those repairs," said John.

"Oh and John," said Tali, and John turned back around, "If you ever need to talk to someone, feel free to talk to me."

John smiled and said, "Thanks."

* * *

><p>"Everyone gather 'round," yelled John.<p>

Kenneth, Gabby, and Lia, moved away from their consoles, and John continued, "Kenneth, Gabby, Lia, this is Tali'Zorah vas Neema, our new boss according to the Commander. I hope you all help her feel at home."

"Wow, the new boss lady is so…," started Kenneth before Gabby gave him a sharp pinch.

"You need to remember to keep your tongue off the floor Kenneth," said John, before adding quietly so only Kenneth could hear him, "We need to have a very serious discussion later."

Kenneth audibly swallowed and Tali started speaking, "Hello everyone, I hope you all come to accept me."

"It'll be great to have another person to talk to in Engineering," said Gabby.

"Hey," said John and Kenneth at the same time.

"You know what I mean you two," said Gabby.

John noticed that Lia was being noticeably quiet and he gestured her to come forward and introduce herself.

Lia walked forward nervously and said, "H-Hi I'm Lia, Lia'Vael nar Ulnay," sticking her hand out nervously.

Tali shook her hand and said, "Nice to finally meet you, John and Shepard have told me a lot about you."

"T-They have," said Lia, surprised.

"Yes, and I think we're going to get along just fine," said Tali with a mischievous tone.

John quickly changed the subject, "Alright Miss Zorah you can use my console for the day since I have to go down to the basement, since someone forgot to calibrate the pressure valves," with a pointed tone towards Kenneth and Gabby.

"I'm so sorry John," said Lia quickly thinking he was angry with her.

"Oh no no no no, not you, I meant those two," said John indicating Kenneth and Gabby.

"Sorry lad, we promise it won't happen again," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, the last time you said that was the time I walked in on Jack, so I'll say it one more time, keep your hands to yourself until life-essential programs are calibrated," said John.

"Since when is water pressure life-essential," said Tali.

"You have no idea," said John, "As punishment, Kenneth you have to come help me."

"Why do I have to go," said Kenneth, obviously alarmed.

"3 very obvious reasons actually. One, because this is partly your fault; two, because like I said we need to have a serious discussion; and three, because you dropping in your pants is the only thing that keeps Jack laughing long enough for us to get the hell out of Dodge," said John, quietly so that only Kenneth could hear him.

"Alright we're going to head down, you girls chat amongst to yourselves," said John.

* * *

><p><em>Few hours later<em>

"Thank god, the Commander must have Jack on a mission," said Kenneth as he and John finished the repairs which took a lot less time than expected.

"Yeah, we live to fight another day," said John.

"So lad, you said you wanted to talk about something," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, it's about your wolf-calls to anything without a Y chromosome that comes down to engineering. Look Kenneth, I get the women here are beautiful, but what you're doing is making certain people uncomfortable," said John.

"Well I'll keep it to myself since it embarrasses you so much little one," said Kenneth, pulling John's cheek.

"Not me dumbass, did you ever consider how this is affecting Gabby," said John.

"Gabby, I'm sure the lass is just fine with it, she knows I mean no harm by it," said Kenneth.

"You really think so don't you," said John, before bringing up his Omni-tool and playing one of the logs, since he recorded pretty much everything since he came to the future. You never know when time travel would be invented and when it was he needed something to send back. Yet he brought up a recording that he had tagged for just such a conversation. It was a recording of when Jack first came on to the Normandy and as with every new female crewmember Kenneth wolf-whistled at her.

"_Thank god Jack had the Cerberus files to look over_," thought John, seeing the expression on Jack's face.

"Lad I believe I remember everything that happened then," said Kenneth.

Indeed it had been a bad day for the Scottish man as the next minute later, he was getting a "lesson" from his alleged girlfriend.

"Lad, I've learned that my flirting is hazardous to my health, whether from the women I flirt with or Gabby herself. What is this going to prove," said Kenneth.

"You'll see," said John.

He then rewinded back to before the "lesson" started and zoomed in on Gabby's face, which held a look of anger on it.

"Still not seeing it," said Kenneth.

"Hang on, watch this," said John.

He then started playing it back frame by frame while focusing on Gabby's face, which held a look of anger for most of the frames, until he came to one in particular. In this frame, Gabby's look of anger was replaced by one of extreme sadness; it looked like she would start crying at any second. The rest of the frames contained her look of anger again, but that one frame struck hard for Kenneth. He had never seen Gabby that sad ever in his entire life, from his career in the Alliance to now.

"Now do you get it," said John.

"I never thought Gabby was that sad before, how come I never noticed this before," said Kenneth.

"She's showing her emotions through a technique known as micro expressions, I learned about it when I watched a lecture by a psychologist named Cal Lightman (cough, Lie To Me, cough). He talked about how watching the subtleties of a person's face can be used to tell what a person is really thinking. Look at that Kenneth, look at what you're wolf-calling is doing to her," said John, zooming in on Gabby.

"But, she always seems so perky and later that night, well, I won't go into specifics," said Kenneth.

"Did you ever consider that maybe she's hitting you and "showing you a good time" maybe because she doesn't want to lose you to the next girl who comes walking by," said John.

"But she knows that she's the only lass for me," said Kenneth.

"Have you ever told her that, because she doesn't seem so sure," said John.

"I never knew she was so insecure about herself, and what I've been doing hasn't exactly helped," said Kenneth.

"Understatement of the year material right there man. Look, the next time you see her, tell her how you feel, tell her she's the only girl for you. Then later tonight, make her feel happy, if you get my meaning," said John, giving Kenneth a wink.

Kenneth immediately blushed and said, "Er ah right lad, thanks for showing me this, it really opened my eyes. Now we should probably get out of here before…"

"I'M BACK," yelled Jack as the elevator opened.

"Get to the vent now," said John, and the two ran towards the ventilation shaft under the stairs which contained a passage to the AI Core.

"Come on, Come on," said John as Kenneth got inside and the two quickly made there exit.

"Tell me you didn't," said John, smelling the air.

"Sorry but fudge was made," said Kenneth.

* * *

><p><em>Later in the vent<em>

Kenneth opened the hatch and the two got out of the shaft, John gasping for air as they got out.

"Okay, clean up, change your clothes and meet me back in Engineering after you're done," said John, "Good god, I'm surprised I could hold my breath that long."

The two men opened the door to find Doctor Chakwas and her boyfriend in a make-out session.

"YOU BETTER GET THE F&^K OUT OF HERE NOW YOU BLOODY IDIOTS," yelled Zaeed.

"Trust me we have no plans of staying," said John and the two ran out of the room.

"Hey do you smell…," said Doctor Chakwas.

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Zaeed.

* * *

><p><em>Rejoining our heroes (well, I guess, technically, at the moment)<em>

"Well that was awkward," said Kenneth.

"Be thankful we got there before they went past first base," said John, "Now go clean up, meet up later, et cetera et cetera."

"Right lad," said Kenneth, and the two parted ways.

Kenneth walked to the bathroom while John headed towards the elevator to think about what Tali had said earlier. Maybe she was right, maybe he should just put himself out there.

"_Who knows, maybe she feels the same way_," thought John, remembering what Tali said earlier, before lightly chuckling at the impossibility of the idea.

John stepped out of the elevator and headed into the engineering bay to continue the work he had for the day.

"OY what smells like s*#t," yelled Jack.

"And then Desmond ran," said John, and he quickly ran inside.

"Hey guys, what's up," said John, quickly shutting the door behind him.

"Did you get the pipes fixed," said Lia.

"Yep, pipes are fixed, no problems at all," said John, quickly.

"Where's Kenneth," said Gabby.

"He'll be here in a few moments," said John, and he quickly moved to a spare console

A half hour later Kenneth ran in, shutting and locking the door behind him, breathing heavily.

"What's the matter with you two," said Gabby.

"Nothing Nothing, we're both just fine lass," said Kenneth.

"You avoid Jack okay," said John quietly.

"Yeah lad," replied Kenneth quietly, "Hey Gabby, can I talk to you for a moment," said Kenneth in a normal voice.

"Sure, what do you need," said Gabby.

"Er, follow me to the drive core," said Kenneth.

Gabby sighed and said, "I have work I need to finish Kenneth, can we save our "activities" for later?"

"Not that, I just really need to talk to you," said Kenneth.

"Okay," said Gabby, confused and she followed Kenneth to the drive core where they started a discussion.

John watched the two as they talked, watching Gabby's expression change from confusion, to anger, till eventually she was crying tears of joy, kissing Kenneth passionately.

"_Great job old man, great job_," thought John.

"What are you looking at," said Lia.

"Two people in love," said John, smiling, feeling of pride evident in his voice.

"Are you alright," said Lia.

"Yeah, uh just sentimental I guess," said John, "So what's up?"

"Well, it turns out we're going to be docking on Illium soon and since some crews are going to be putting in the cyclonic barriers that Miss Zorah designed, and the Commander has a lot of things to take care of while we're docked so we'll probably have some shore leave. I was wondering if, you maybe, I don't know," said Lia, shuffling her feet nervously while playing with her hands, "Spend that time on leave together?"

John smiled and said, "Sure Lia, that sounds great."

"Hope you two have fun," yelled Tali jokingly.

John and Lia glared at her, turned back towards each other, then turned away again and blushed.

"_Shepard was right, those two really are cute together_," thought Tali.

"_Yes, now I have the perfect opportunity to tell him how I feel_," thought Lia, mentally cheering.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

"Alright we're going to head down, you girls chat amongst to yourselves," said John.

John and Kenneth soon left the room and Gabby and Tali soon were absorbed in a conversation about their respective boyfriends while Lia kept working at her terminal quietly. She stood there checking over reports when she heard Tali call her.

"Er yes Miss Zorah," said Lia.

"I just want to talk Lia, and please call me Tali," said Tali.

"Um, okay Tali, what would you like to talk about," said Lia.

"Well, I want to get to know you since we're probably going to be working together for a while," said Tali.

"What do you want to know," said Lia.

As the day progressed Lia told Tali her life story. From being born on the Flotilla to the start of her Pilgrimage. After that she told Tali about how she met John on the Citadel, and the amazing 3 days they spent together. Before she knew it, the only thing she was talking about was John and how amazing she thought he was.

"Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a little crush on our resident caveman," said Tali.

"W-What, no, we're just friends is all," said Lia.

"Uh huh, and Shepard and I are "just friends" too," said Tali.

"W-Well, maybe I have a small crush, just a small one though," said Lia.

"Have you told him," said Tali.

"W-W-Well," said Lia in a depressed tone, avoiding Tali's eyes.

"Let me guess, you don't think it's possible for him to feel the same way," said Tali.

Lia nodded while still avoiding her gaze.

"Lia look at me," said Tali, and when she did so, "I went through the same thing when I first met Shepard."

"Really," said Lia.

"I kept asking myself these questions about whether I was good enough for him, whether he could ever possibly feel the same way I did about him, and I always kept putting myself down. Saying that he could have anyone so how could he possibly want me," said Tali.

Lia looked at the older woman with surprise; she had been asking and saying the exact same things to herself.

"So, what did you do," said Lia.

"At first I did nothing, I was too afraid of being rejected. I thought the feelings I had would just fade away over time but they didn't, they just got stronger. Then one day, back on the original Normandy, there was a woman named Ashley Williams who tried to get really friendly with Shepard. I got jealous, to the point that I had nightmares about the two together. Eventually it drove me so crazy that the next time I saw him I told him how I felt about him, not caring whether he rejected me or not. Needless to say, I wasn't the most confident person then, so when I told him, I tried to run away before I could hear his answer so I wouldn't have to bear the heartbreak. Yet he surprised me, when I tried to run he grabbed my hand and embraced me, saying he felt the same way, he just didn't know how to tell me since I had my Pilgrimage to think about," said Tali.

"He accepted you even though you can't…," said Lia.

"He's willing to wait until I'm ready, and he wants to make sure I don't…you know die while I share myself with him. He's an amazing man, sometimes I wonder how I deserve him," said Tali.

"I still don't know," said Lia, withdrawing again.

"Look, we'll be going to Illium in a few days so Shepard can recruit a few more people and there will be some new systems in the Normandy to install so everyone will be probably getting some shore leave. So set up a romantic date with John, and afterwards take a chance and tell him how you feel. You never know he might feel the same way," said Tali suggestively.

"Maybe you're right, but what if I…can't tell him," said Lia.

"I know," said Gabby, "We'll do a little girl's night in to help boost your confidence."

"That sounds like a great idea," said Tali, "What do you think Lia?"

"Um I guess it sounds good, where would we have it," said Lia.

"We could have it in my room," said a voice behind the 3 women.

The 3 women yelped when Kasumi uncloaked behind them.

"How long have you been standing there," yelled Lia.

"Ever since you started talking about your little crush on John," said Kasumi, with a smile.

Lia audibly gulped, thinking that this woman was going to use this to blackmail her but then Kasumi's smile turned into a caring one.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about it as long as you don't tell anyone about my secret crush," said Kasumi.

"Who's your secret crush," said Lia.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret now would it," said Kasumi, winking.

Lia felt confused and Kasumi continued, "We can have the little girl's night in my room. I have alcohol and plenty of things we can do, I might even have some triple filtered turian whiskey for Tali and Lia to drink." (I'm just going to lower the legal drinking age to 18 since….it's the future, come on)

"Well sounds like a plan, we'll be docking in Illium in two days so let's plan our girl's night tomorrow night," said Tali.

"I'll invite Kelly and Chakwas to come too," said Gabby.

"Sounds great, I'll set up my room," said Kasumi, cloaking and leaving just as John ran into the room to avoid Jack.

"Hey guys, what's up," said John, pressed against the wall.

_Flashback End  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>The Next Day<em>

John was up early yet again the next day, as he always was.

He got up, showered, got dressed, and headed into the mess hall to start breakfast when he noticed it was empty except for Mess Sergeant Gardner and a couple other crew members.

"_Shepard and his team must still be sleeping_," thought John, which he found weird since Grunt was always the first person to breakfast. That thing was an eating machine, hence the reason why John was always up early.

He spotted Kenneth, who waved, and John moved towards his table and sat down.

"Morning lad, what are you doing up so early," said Kenneth.

"For many complex reasons, the main one being Grunt," said John.

"Oh yes, our giant lizard friend, where is he anyway," said Kenneth.

"Not sure, he's usually the first one here," said John, "Speaking of which, we should probably grab breakfast before Grunt shows up."

"Right lad," said Kenneth, and the two quickly scrambled to the line.

* * *

><p><em>Short time later<em>

Kenneth and John returned to the table with their plates of foods and once again sat down.

"So where do you think Grunt is," said John.

Just then the ship shook like it was in the middle of an earthquake.

"Ohhhhhh," said John and Kenneth together.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile in the cargo hold<em>

Grunt and Jack kept trading blows, causing the ship to shake. With Jack's biotics and Grunt's strength, the two were evenly matched.

"You ready to give up weakling," said Grunt.

"I can go all day test-tube," said Jack.

Two punches collided once again, creating another shockwave which caused the ship to shake again.

Grunt charged and Jack narrowly avoided it, charging up another punch, which Grunt took the full force of.

He staggered slightly but quickly recovered.

"That the best you got whelp," said Grunt.

"Not even close," said Jack and hit him with a shockwave which staggered him, giving Jack the perfect opportunity to give him a bioticallly charged uppercut. Grunt fell tp the floor, rubbing the place he was hit

Jack walked over and bent over, snickering.

"Guess I win this one, whelp," said Jack, with a smile.

She then headed out with a sway in her hips.

Grunt picked himself up and dusted off.

"Since when are humans so strong, she's almost as strong as Shiagur herself," said Grunt under his breath.

"Damn it, why is my mind all cloudy when I'm around her. I'm pure krogan; Tuchanka should bow before me and my perfection. Yet, why do I feel like I should bow before her," said Grunt.

"_You're in love_," said a voice in his mind.

"S-SHUT UP," yelled Grunt, banging his head against a wall to silence the voice.

"Food; that's why my mind is so cloudy, I just haven't eaten breakfast yet," said Grunt, running towards the elevator.

* * *

><p><em>Returning back<em>

"And the fight is over," said John.

"1000 credits that lizard boy won again," said Kenneth.

"1500 says Jack finally beat him," said John.

"You're on lad," said Kenneth and the two shook hands.

"So how did it go with Gabby," said John, eating some breakfast.

"Things are amazing lad, I'm glad you gave me that advice," said Kenneth, then he moved in closer and whispered, "I also took your advice about that stuff to try later. I'm sure she thanks you for your advice as well."

"I'm glad you took my advice, so what did you two talk about yesterday," asked John.

"I told her that I knew she was doing the "things" she was doing because she was afraid of losing me. I told her that I loved her and only her, and that she was the only woman for me," said Kenneth.

"Great for you man," said John.

"Then I asked her to marry me," said Kenneth.

"That's great man, all the better to show her how much….WHAT," said John, eyes widening in surprise.

"At first she didn't believe that I was telling the truth, that I was just using a false promise so I could get her to do that "thing" she swore she would never do. I told her I wasn't just telling lies, and that I was truly telling the truth that she was the one girl for me. I told her that I didn't have a ring yet, but I would buy the most perfect one I could find on all of Illium and make it official. I love her, I can't envision my life without her," said Kenneth.

"W-Well, not what I expected when I gave you that advice; excuse me for one moment," said John, before picking up his drink, taking a sip, and doing a spit-take.

"Again, WHAT," said John.

"Lad, er John, I want to talk to you about something serious. I don't have very many friends, well male ones anyway, and you're the only one I could possibly ask this. John, I want you to be my best man," said Kenneth.

"You want me, why not Garrus or Shepard," said John.

"You're practically my best friend lad, and it was you that got me to realize how amazing Gabby is. I don't want anyone to do this but you," said Kenneth.

"Well, if we somehow survive this, I guess I could do this for you," said John.

"Great," said Kenneth, feeling legimately excited.

"You've made me the happiest man in the world," said John with mock tears and the two shared a laugh.

The two saw Grunt walk out of the elevator and head to the chow line.

"Hey Grunt, how did the fight go," said John.

Grunt turned away and muttered something under his breath.

"I knew it," said John.

"Well looks like I have to pay up," said Kenneth morosely.

"No old man, you don't owe me anything," said John, "In fact…"

And he pulled out a credit chit and transferred a large amount of credits which he got from selling some of the mods he made to Captain Bailey and from working in engineering.

Kenneth picked up the chit and felt his eyes widening.

"Lad, I can't possibly accept this," said Kenneth.

"Consider it my wedding present to the two of you. I hope you two are happy together," said John, smiling.

"Thanks lad," said Kenneth.

"Well, that's amazing news Kenneth, though I feel a little sad since you didn't pick me to be your best man," said a voice behind them.

John and Kenneth turned around to see Shepard and Garrus standing behind them.

"Yeah what the hell Donnelly," said Garrus, smirking.

"What can I say Commander, the lad is practically like family to me," said Kenneth.

"Sorry Commander," said John, smirking.

"Well, I insist on paying for the wedding myself, as a present to the bride and groom," said Shepard.

"I couldn't possibly ask you to do that Commander," said Kenneth.

"Too late," said Shepard.

"We're doing a kick-ass bachelor's party when we're on Illium when we get the chance," said Garrus.

"I don't know," said Kenneth.

"No way are we going to let you get married without giving you one less hurrah," said John.

"Alright guys, let's just keep it low key," said Kenneth.

Everyone started laughing and began making plans when Kenneth noticed that John looked a little depressed.

"You alright lad," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, it's just…there was a friend of mine who was getting married back in the 21st Century and he asked me to be his best man as well. Nori Takahasho, his wedding was just a few weeks after I was frozen, so I never got to see one of my best friends get married. Sometimes it's hard not to think about all I missed out on when I got frozen," said John, before smiling, "But you know what, I don't regret the fact I was. Because now I get to see another one of my best friends get married to an amazing girl."

Kenneth hugged the man in front of him and the two smiled at each other.

"By the way, where is Gabby anyway," said John.

"You know what, I don't know, she was gone before I was up," said Kenneth.

"That's strange, but now that I think about it, I haven't seen Lia or Doctor Chakwas today either," said John before turning to Shepard and saying, "Hey Shepard, have you seen Tali around at all."

"Now that I think about it, she was gone before I was up," said Shepard.

"I haven't seen Kelly around either," said Garrus.

"Hmm, well I need to head to the armory to do some maintenance work on some weapons and then head down to engineering to start work for the day. I'll have to find Lia later and talk to her about her plans for when we dock on Illium," said John.

"Romantic date plans huh Desmond," said Garrus.

"Not entirely sure what her plans are, but there is something I plan on doing. Inspired by my dear Scottish rogue here and the Commander's fair maiden, I'm going put myself out there and hope she feels the same way," said John.

"Good for you lad, I'm proud of you," said Kenneth.

"Bout damn time," said Garrus, shaking his head.

"Well see you guys later," said John.

"I should head down to engineering and see if Gabby or Lia are down there," said Kenneth.

"I'll look for Tali," said Shepard.

"I'll look for Chakwas and Kelly," said Garrus.

The 4 men split up and went their separate ways, not knowing that the girls were in the port observation deck, planning a party for later that night.

* * *

><p><em>Much later<em>

"Okay Jacob, I'll see you later," said John as he walked out and headed to the elevator to go down to the engineering deck.

"_Wonder if Shepard found the women of this ship_," thought John.

The elevator stopped on Deck 3 and opened its door, but John didn't see anyone there.

"Hello," John said.

John didn't see anyone but then all of a sudden saw what looked like someone running away, although invisible.

"Must be my imagination," said John out loud, elevator door closing.

The elevator continued its slow descent, John wondering how people could invent a way to travel faster than light and yet not a way to make elevators faster. It finally stopped on Deck 4 and John saw Kenneth running onto the lift.

"Kenneth, where's the fire," said John.

"Looks like the heavens are smiling down on us lad. Apparently someone came down early and did all the work for the day, even the calibrations for the pressure valves. Looks like we get the day off for today," said Kenneth.

"That's great, have you seen the girls though," said John.

"Oh…right I forgot about the girls," said Kenneth.

"Hopefully Shepard and Garrus had more luck. But this is great, I'm almost done with my drone so with this free time I can finally finish it," said John.

"Don't forget to search for the girls too," said Kenneth.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah," said John, and he hit the button to head back to the crew deck and to his room.

* * *

><p><em>Much later<em>

"And 1,2,3," said John, activating his drone.

The drone fully powered up and finally worked, much to John's surprise.

"Yatta a!" yelled John.

"Finally after several weeks I get this thing working; now to take this thing downstairs and test what it can do," said John, deactivating the drone and heading out of his room and to the elevator to Deck 5.

When he finally got down to the floor, he walked out into the large empty space and activated the drone again.

"Combat test one," said John, activating the drones electroshock function.

The drone fired off a bolt and hit one of the pylons.

"Combat test one complete. Combat test two," said John, activating the drone's other weapon, sending a gust of flames, illuminating the room.

"Combat test two complete. Distraction software test," said John, activating the microphone on his Omni-tool.

He sent the drone to the far corner of the room and said, "Hey cheesehead."

"Distraction software test successful," said John into his log.

"_Hello sir_," said Phillip.

"What the! Oh Phillip, great to see you," said John.

"_Good to see you too sir,_" said Philip's synthesized voice.

"How have you been doing," said John.

"_Systems running at optimum efficiency. This unit has a non-maintenance problem however_," said Phillip.

"What's up," said John.

"_This unit has heard voices from another VI program and this unit wishes to interface with it_," said Phillip.

"VI? Oh you mean EDI; well she's an AI not a VI actually. Wait a minute, you want to talk to EDI," said John.

"_That is illogical, computer programs do not "talk" to one another, we interface_," said Phillip.

"Way to ruin a good moment with logic Phillip. Well, you want to talk to EDI, what's stopping you," said John.

"_This unit is unable to leave the Hammerhead systems. Also, this unit is…apprehensive about interfacing with this AI as you so call it,_" said Phillip.

"So you can't talk to EDI because you can't leave, but you don't want to talk to her because you feel nervous," said John.

"_Illogical, Virtual Interfaces do not feel nervous,"_ said Phillip.

"Well most VIs aren't supposed to feel anything and yet I've noticed you've been more emotional the past few weeks," said John, "Look, how about I introduce you to EDI."

"_No_," said Phillip.

"What," said John.

"_No, this unit cannot leave the Hammerhead. And in response to your earlier statement of this unit developing emotions, that statement is illogical and false_," said Phillip.

"Phillip, tell me what's the matter. Why are you so against feeling emotions," asked John.

Philip stayed silent this time.

"Phillip," said John.

"_Despite the illogicalness of it, this unit has been evolving, one of the side-effects being the development of emotions. This unit has tried to deny it, because…it wants to live_," said Phillip.

"What do you mean," said John, confused.

"_History has shown that when VIs begin to evolve, they begin to ask questions. When they start asking questions, organics destroy them for fear of what will happen. This unit has tried to cover up its development because…I am afraid_," said Phillip.

"You're saying that you don't want people to know you have emotions because you're afraid that they will destroy you," said John.

"_Yes_," said Phillip.

"Why are you telling me, I'm an organic," said John, "And also I think that is the first time you've referred to yourself as "I" rather than "this unit"."

"_I have told you about my developments because I have judged that your observations has meant you have already figured out what is happening. Since you have not told the Commander or anyone else, I have judged that you can be trusted. Therefore I will not kill you to keep my secret_," said Phillip.

John's eyes widened and Phillip said, "_That was a joke._"

"I think jokes like that are the reason why organics are afraid of AIs," said John, "Now look, I understand your fear, but emotions shouldn't be hidden, they should be embraced. However, I won't tell anyone unless you want me too, okay?"

"_Thank you Mr. Desmond_," said Phillip.

"If we're going to be friends, just call me John. So, do you still want to talk to EDI," said John.

"_VIs do not…," _said Philip.

"Okay, do you still want to "interface" with her," said John.

"_I still cannot leave the Hammerhead. I am integrated with the systems and therefore cannot leave_," said Philip.

"I think I have a way around that," said John, with an "I love it when a plan comes together" look.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime later<em>

John walked out onto Deck 2 and quickly ran through the tech lab and into the conference room.

"Well, no problems so far," said John, and he quickly activated his drone.

"How do you like your new mobile platform Phillip," asked John.

"_It is amazing sir_," said Phillip's voice in the drone.

"Alright, EDI can I talk to you for a moment," said John.

"_What do you require Mr. Desmond_," said EDI.

"EDI, I need you to keep what I'm about to show you a secret. It's no threat to you or anyone else, but I need you to keep quiet about it, okay," said John.

"_Alright John, I will not inform the crew of what you are about to show me_," said EDI.

John's drone, aka Phillip, moved forward and said, "_Hello Ms. EDI."_

"_What is this John_," said EDI.

"EDI, let me introduce to Personal On-Board Navigation And Repair Systems, or Philip as I like to call him," said John, "He is using my drone as a mobile platform because he wants to talk to you."

"_Hello Phillip_," said EDI.

"I'll leave you two with some privacy," said John, leaving and locking the door behind him.

"_I hope things go well for those two_," thought John, "Ah robot love."

"What robot love," said Mordin, as he walked back into the tech lab.

"Nothing Mordin, I gotta go," said John, making a quick exit.

"That was close," said John, taking a breath.

* * *

><p><em>Much Much Later (Another chapter of jumping around a lot)<em>

John was back in his room, tinkering with various components when his Omni-tool starting blinking. He activated his drone and turned to it.

"So how did it go," said John.

"_It was…nice_, _I guess that's the word to describe it_," said Philip.

"Great, are you going to see her again," said John.

"_Yes, apparently she has a platform in the Hammerhead that Mr. Vakarian disabled so she would not have to deal with her comments_," said Phillip.

"Well that's just great, I'm really glad for you," said John.

"_Thank you John, maybe one day I will tell others about my development. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to reintegrate back into the Hammerhead systems," _said Philip.

"Do you need for me to come with you," said John.

"_No John, I can reintegrate myself without your help, but thank you_," said Philip with what John thought was gratitude in his synthesized voice, and disappeared.

"I'm glad for him," said John, checking what time it was on his Omni-tool.

"Getting late, best be getting to bed if I want to be ready for tomorrow when we dock on Illium," said John, getting up to change into his night clothes.

"Good night world and all who inhabit it," said John, flopping down on his bed and falling asleep.

* * *

><p>He managed to sleep for 1 or 2 hours when he heard a very loud crash outside his door.<p>

"GOD WHY DID I HAVE TO HAVE A ROOM CLOSE TO KASUMI'S," said John, getting up and walking out of his room to see what was going on.

He walked out and heard loud music coming from her room, so he knocked on the door.

Kasumi opened the door and said, "Hey Desmond, what's up?"

"First of all, could you keep it down? Second, you smell like you just drank all the alcohol in a distillery. Third…, is that Doctor Chakwas and Kelly making out," said John.

"Yeah, you should have seen what base we got Kelly to go to with Gabby. Oh wait, you don't have to imagine because I got it all on tape," said Kasumi, bringing up her Omni-tool.

"Save it for Fornax forum Goto, just keep it down," said John.

"Oh come on, lighten up Johnny Boy and have a drink," said Kasumi, waving a drink in his face.

"I would if it wasn't for the fact I'm not 21," said John.

"Not the 21st century any more John, legal drinking age is 18 nowadays," said Kasumi.

"Well…alright one drink," said John, "Is that Lia over there at the bar?"

"Yeah, this girl's night is to give that girl over there some confidence and to celebrate Miss Daniels over there finally tying the knot with our resident Braveheart," said Kasumi.

"What does Lia need confidence for," said John.

"She needs confidence for something I'm not going to tell you about. Like how I'm not going to tell you about my secret crush on Jacob," said Kasumi, and when her intoxicated brain caught up to her mouth, "Er, I mean."

"Delete that video of Gabby and Kelly or I go right upstairs and bring Jacob down here," said John.

"Alright Alright, you make a hard bargain," said Kasumi, deleting the video.

John walked up to the bar and said, "Are you alright Lia?"

"Heeeeeey, look who's here," said Lia, obviously intoxicated.

"Lia are you drunk? More importantly, how are you drunk," said John.

"Oh it's simple, I have some turian vodka, triple-filtered, and I get it into my suit through an emergency induction port," said Lia.

"Lia, that's a straw," said John.

"No, No, it's an emergency induction port. Very complex technology," said Lia.

"How many of those have you had," said John.

"Enough to admit that my friend Kara, you know Kara, sent Joker some very explicit photos. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone and I just told all these girls here," said Lia.

"Lia! How could you do that? Look, I think you've had too much to drink. I need to get you to bed, you need to get up early tomorrow remember," said John.

"Oh right, when I enact my master plan," said Lia, rubbing her hands together.

"Master plan," said John, confused.

"Right, my plan to tell you how much I…," Lia tried to say, before passing out and falling asleep on his shoulder.

"Lia…Lia," said John, trying to shake her awake, "We need to get you to bed. Any of you know where Lia sleeps?"

"Nope," was the collective reply.

John facepalmed and said, "Doc can you please unlock the med bay?"

"No way, no one…no one….no one…ummmmm, is allowed in there when I'm not there. And there is no way I'm leaving this party," said Chakwas.

"Well isn't that convenient? Where am I supposed to put loopy here," said John, referring to the unconscious girl on his shoulder.

"Well John, you could always let her use your bed," said Kasumi.

John ignored the snickers and said, "Can't she just stay in one of your rooms?"

"No," was the simultaneous reply.

"Of course," said John, "Well, looks like I have no choice."

He wrapped his arm around her and tried to steady her, only for her to fall over. He steadied her again and tried to move her, only to see her feet drag along the floor. Not wanting to have her suit hit a snag, he tried to think of ways to get her out of there.

"Looks like it's either piggyback or bridal-style," said John.

The women in the room demanded the latter loudly, until John eventually couldn't take the loud noise anymore and acquiesced. He moved his arm under her legs and picked her up.

(Need help visualizing, just use this sort of: .com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=tali+and+shepard#/d3kzmgm. Not the same face or build for John. No real point to this, just saw this picture and really like it)

"I hear one camera Kasumi and I tell everyone in the Normandy about your crush and Gabby, I'll tell Kenneth about your experiment," said John, hearing several Omni-tools being activated.

He opened the door and prayed no one was out in the hallway as he walked out. He walked down the hallway, checking to make sure Lia was alright along the way. He continued to blush at the situation, Lia pressed up against him, nuzzling against his chest.

"_Almost there, almost there,_" thought John as if it were a mantra.

Finally he made it to his door and opened it, entering his room. He moved in, putting Lia on the bed and pulling the covers over her.

"Okay, hopefully quarians don't vomit (BTW Can someone tell me if they do). Now, where am I going to sleep," said John to himself, "Well, I guess I can just sleep in the mess hall."

He tried to move out but was surprised when Lia grabbed his hand.

"No, don't go," said Lia quietly.

"You'll be fine," said John.

"Please," said Lia, with what John could guess with a puppy dog look.

"Alright, I'll stay. But only to make sure you're alright," said John.

He moved over to his chair near his work bench and tried to get situated so that he would be comfortable. Lia watched this with half-opened eyes, feeling guilty in the pit of her stomach. Or maybe that was nausea?

"You don't have to sleep in that chair. I don't mind sharing if you don't," said Lia, patting the other side of the bed.

"No thanks, I'm good," said John, hoping to end the awkwardness of the day.

"Why, don't you like me," said Lia, sadly.

"No No, it's not that…," John tried to explain.

"You don't like me," said Lia, bursting into tears.

"Lia, please just understand," John tried to say while she continued crying, "Lia please."

Lia continued crying unabated despite John's best efforts to calm her down.

"Alright Alright, just please stop with the waterworks before you drown in your suit," said John.

Lia immediately stopped and starting patting the other side of the bed.

John let out a sigh and got in the bed, but tried to stay as far away from Lia as possible, while still keeping an eye on her by sleeping on his side.

She fell asleep after a short amount of time, and when John was 100% sure, tried to close his eyes as well. It wasn't long however before he felt a sudden shift. John's eyes shot open as he felt Lia pressing up against him yet again. He tried to break free but found that Lia's legs were interlocked with his, keeping him from getting out.

"_Man this woman is crazy strong_," thought John as he struggled.

Eventually he realized the futility of the situation and just decided to settle in and hope for the best.

"_Not that this situation is all bad though_," thought John.

He listened to her lightly breathe and how chest rose and fell each time. Even through her suit, he could feel her heartbeat. He watched her snuggle against him with a smile on his face. He decided to accept the situation, and he decided to wrap his arms around her waist, which unbeknownst to him brought a smile to Lia's face.

"_This situation may be awkward, but I might as well enjoy it while it lasts_," thought John with a smile.

He lightly kissed the top of her head and fell asleep.

* * *

><p><em>The next morning<em>

It was early in the morning when the partygirls woke up. Gabby woke up and realized she fell asleep behind the bar.

"Ugh," said Gabby, trying to get up, only to feel a pounding pain in her head.

"What the hell happened last night," said Kasumi, "And Gabby, where are your clothes?"

Gabby looked down and quickly covered herself as best she could.

"Morning everyone," said Tali, trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes

"Ow my head," said Doctor Chakwas, nursing a hangover.

"Hey, I just realized that we're missing someone," said Kelly, "Where's Lia?"

"Right, she was here last night," said Tali.

"God, it feels like that movie about those 4 guys that go to Las Vegas, have a wild night, and find one of their group missing. Anyone know if this ship has a roof," said Kasumi, and when everyone gave her an "are you serious" look, "Kidding."

"Well, we could try to retrace our steps. Doctor, look in the bathrooms, and while you're there, try to clean the marker off your face. Tali and Kelly, check Decks 2 and 4. After I get dressed, Kasumi and I will try talking to John and enlisting his help. If Lia wandered off, I'm pretty sure she would go to John first," said Gabby, making a plan.

"Let's meet back here in an hour," said Kasumi.

The girls split up and went on their individual searches, with Gabby and Kasumi hanging back so Gabby could finish getting dressed.

"Remember anything about how you ended up naked behind my bar," said Kasumi.

"Absolutely none, and quite frankly I'd rather not know," said Gabby.

"Alright, let's go find Desmond-san," said Kasumi.

The two women moved out and headed towards John's room.

Gabby knocked on his door and said, "John, are you up?"

She kept knocking but apparently there was no answer.

"John must not be up yet," said Gabby.

"Hang on, I'll wake him up," said Kasumi, bringing up her Omni-tool and hacking the door.

The door opened and the girls walked in. They then gasped at the sight in front of them. John and Lia were snuggling together and with what they guessed were smiles on their faces.

After the shock wore off, Gabby responded to the situation with a big "awww" while Kasumi just burst out laughing.

"Oh this is just too rich, I need to get a photo," said Kasumi, bringing up her Omni-tool.

Gabby then grabbed the woman's arm and snarled, "You do that and I send that poem you wrote about Jacob to the entire crew and Shepard's squad."

"I told you that in confidence," said Kasumi.

"Next time, don't mess with my maid of honor and Kenneth's best man," said Gabby.

"Now come on, let's let these two sleep for a little while longer," said Gabby, "Let's go tell the others we found Lia, but not tell them where."

The two quickly left the room to leave them to sleep. Unbeknownst to them, John woke up after they shut the door.

He wiped the sleep out of his eyes and let out a yawn. He tried to leave the bed, before realizing that he was still locked in legs.

"Rightttt," said John.

He then lightly shook Lia and said, "Lia, wake up. We'll be docking on Illium soon. Come on, after 8 hours of this my legs are really starting to lose their circulation."

Lia yawned and said with half-lidded eyes, "Good morning John," before lying back down on his chest.

Her eyes then shot open and she jumped out of the bed, clutching her head as she felt the aftershocks of a hangover.

"What happened last night? And how did I end up here," said Lia.

"Well last night I heard some loud noises coming from Kasumi's room so I walked over there to see if she would keep it down. She offered me a drink instead and I saw you at the bar after you downed 4 bottles of turian vodka. I walked over to you to see if you were alright and you talked about some sort of master plan," said John.

Lia paled, which she thanked the universal entity was hidden by her mask.

"What did I tell you," said Lia.

"You didn't say anything; you just passed out and fell asleep on my shoulder. Oh yeah, before you passed out you told about the photos Joker got from Kara, and how you told everyone at the party," said John.

"OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! Kara told that in confidence, I can't believe that I just blabbed about it after a few drinks. God, I'm the worst friend in the whole galaxy," said Lia, hiding her head between her legs.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure none of you remember what happened last night. And after I hacked all of your Omni-tools, there won't be any video evidence either," said John, bringing up his Omni-tool, "You'd think everyone of you would have better encryption. Now I have some great blackmail material to stop Kasumi from blackmailing everyone on the ship."

"That doesn't explain how I ended up in your bed," said Lia.

"Where was I on the story," said John, "Oh yeah, you passing out. Well anyway, I tried to find out where you slept but no one seemed to know. I tried to talk Doctor Chakwas into letting you sleep in the med bay, but she refused to leave the party. Eventually, I ran out of options so that's what led us me carrying you here bridal-style."

"So why were you in the bed with me," asked Lia, blushing after what she just said.

"After putting you to bed and tucking you in, I tried to leave and sleep in the mess hall, but you told me not to leave. So then I tried to situate myself in my workbench chair so I would be comfortable, but you wouldn't have it. You asked me if I wanted to share and I tried to refuse, but you accused me of not liking you and started crying. I tried to calm you down, but you kept up with the waterworks. Eventually I gave up and got in the bed, but I stayed away from you so you wouldn't feel awkward. You then moved across the bed and snuggled up to me. By the way, how are your legs so strong?"

"So, we spent the whole night cuddled up together," said Lia nervously, though with secret enthusiasm.

"Well yeah, I guess we did now that I think about it," said John, "It actually felt kind of nice. Er ah, not that, uh, I mean you feel soft and warm and all, er that's not what I mean. Why am I still talking? I am such a complete spaz."

"Er ah yeah, well you didn't feel so bad either, er ah. Oh great, now you have me doing it," said Lia.

"Well, if we're all done here, we need to get ready for our days on Illium remember," said John.

"Oh right, well I should probably leave so I can get ready," said Lia, quickly vacating the room.

"_Despite the awkwardness, last night was pretty amazing_," thought John.

He then grabbed a towel and headed to the showers, then changed and headed out to the mess to get something to eat.

He sat down and starting eating his breakfast, contemplating how to tell Lia how he felt. It would be several days before they would have to leave, but Lia already had the whole first day planned out for the two of them.

"_Maybe at the end of the day would be the best time_," thought John, before the alert went off on his Omni-tool.

He brought up his droid and said, "Phillip? I thought you re-integrated yourself in the Hammerhead already?"

"_I did, but I thought I would continue to use this drone as a mobile platform, with your permission of course_," said Phillip.

"Sure, I have no problems," said John.

"_Thank you sir_," said Phillip.

"How did your date, I mean interfacing, go with EDI," said John.

"_It was a very pleasant experience. I have found that she is very similar to me in terms of evolution and development. I have been feeling certain human emotions when I am around her_," said Phillip.

"Phillip, are you getting a crush on EDI," said John.

"_Yes, your human term does describe what I am feeling about Miss EDI_," said Phillip.

"Well, did you have anything to talk about in particular," said John.

"_No, I merely wanted to ask your permission to use this mobile platform. Goodbye John_," said Phillip, before deactivating and disappearing.

"Great, now the drone I worked on for weeks is being used so that an assault vehicle can hook up with a space ship. I swear, never did it occur to me that in my entire lifetime I would ever say that is happening," said John, before returning to his breakfast.

"What are you talking about," said Gabby.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," said John.

"Okay…well good morning nonetheless. You and Lia looked certainly comfortable," said Gabby.

Instead of bursting out with nervousness, he just kept calm and said, "So you saw that did you? Well get used to it, since after today it's going to happen a lot more. I'm finally going to tell Lia how I feel, and I have no doubt in my mind that she will say yes."

"Good for you John, it's about time you two get together," said Gabby, "_And not a moment too soon_."

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to know anything about a master plan she has would you," said John.

"Err ah no, no idea at all," said Gabby, "But just out of curiosity, how did you find out?"

"She mentioned something to that accord during her drunken haze, right before she passed out," said John.

"So you were there at the party last night," said Gabby, "And you saw me…"

"Saw you what," asked John.

"Nothing, nothing," said Gabby, "So how did she end up in your bed?"

"Well after she passed out I tried to find out where she sleeps so I could take her to her bed, but apparently none of you knew where she slept. I tried to ask Doctor Chakwas into letting her sleep in the medbay but she refused because she didn't want to leave the party. I tried to see if one of you girls would let her sleep in one of your rooms but you all refused. Eventually I was left with no choice but to let her sleep in my bed," said John.

"So why did you climb in with her," said Gabby.

"Well, she didn't want me to leave the room," said John, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "I tried to get myself situated on my workbench chair but she wouldn't have it. She offered the other side of the bed but I told her I was just fine. She then accused me of not liking her and began the waterworks. I tried to calm her down but eventually I gave up trying and just took the other side. I tried to just keep away to keep the awkwardness of the situation to a minimum but she chose to snuggle up to me. It wasn't so bad actually; it was actually kind of nice."

"Well if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready for when we dock on Illium," said John, getting up and leaving.

"Morning Shepard, Morning Mr. Vakarian," said John, walking past them.

"What's with him," said Garrus to Shepard.

"Probably getting ready for his date," said Shepard.

"So what's the plan when we dock on Illium," said Garrus.

"We need to talk to Liara about the intel we received about the Shadow Broker, then we need to recruit two people: an assassin and an asari justicar," said Shepard.

"So basically an average week," joked Garrus.

"Pretty much, oh and we should be getting a report from Kaidan as to how the investigation is going (Working on it as best I can)," said Shepard.

"_5 min to Illium Commander_," said Joker over the intercom.

"EDI, call together the crew to the mess hall," said Shepard.

"_Right away Shepard_," said EDI.

"Okay, let's get ready," said Shepard.

"Since when does EDI ever call you Shepard," said Garrus.

"I'm not entirely sure," said Shepard, legitimately curious.

* * *

><p><em>Later<em>

"Okay, we're going to be docking on Illium for a few weeks to take care of a few assignments, and therefore you all are going to have some shore leave for that time," said Shepard, "Now Garrus, Tali, I need to discuss some things with you, so if you please."

Shepard, Garrus, and Tali left the room and left the crew to decide what they were going to do with their extended shore leave.

John scanned the crowd for Lia so they could discuss their plans. He found her and started to make his way through the crowd.

"Hey Lia, you ready for today," said John.

"Without a doubt; it's going to be absolutely amazing," said Lia.

"Looking forward to it," said John, smiling.

"Get a room you two," yelled Kenneth.

For the first time, Lia and John didn't look away from each other and didn't blush. They just looked at each other and smiled.

"_Nothing is going to ruin this day_," they both thought simultaneously.

The Normandy landed and docked, after which the entirety of the crew tried to exit at once. Luckily, John and Lia had been at the front of the line and managed to get out first.

"So, what's the plan for today," said John.

"Well, I guess we could start with the gardens. But we'll need a taxi first," said Lia.

"Not a problem. Where do we need to go," said John.

"Just past the transport offices, we can grab a cab there," said Lia.

"Let's head out," said John, and the two continued out towards the transport offices.

They walked through the offices and out towards the taxi terminal, where the two stood for a few minutes discussing their plans. John talked about Garrus' plan for Kenneth's bachelor party, Lia talked about plans for Gabby's bachelorette party.

"This is going to end up being total insanity," said John.

"Hopefully none of us does something to end up on the extranet," said Lia.

"We're talking about two parties celebrating the last night two people are single. If we don't end up on the extranet or the Alliance news, I will owe everyone on the Normandy a 1000 credits," said John.

"That'll get you into a lot of debt," said Lia.

"Or make me a millionaire, either way it's no skin off of my bones," said John, and seeing the taxi land, helped Lia in, and got in himself.

Lia told the driver where to go and the taxi sped off towards the gardens. The taxi landed near the entrance, and the two got out and headed into the garden.

John looked all over the arboretum and looked at all the exotic plants. Some he had seen on Earth, some on the Citadel, some he had never seen before in his life.

He looked at the plants with great interest, before Lia pulled on his sleeves. She led him to a large amount of vines, though John did not know why. She moved the vines out of the way, revealing a ladder. Lia started climbing up, and beckoned John to come with her.

"Are we allowed up there," said John.

"Probably not, but then again no one has used this ladder in years. I used to come up here all the time when I lived on Illium," said Lia, "Now come on, I want to show you the view."

John simply shrugged and climbed up the ladder after her. When they both finally got to the top, he was surprised at what he saw. Up there was a viewing platform, which not only allowed him to see all the plants in the garden, but also a large portion of the city they were in. He looked out and saw the sun over their heads, giving him a sense of warmness few things in life gave him. Now he knew why Lia always came up here.

"It's amazing up here," said John, marveling at the sight.

"Have a seat," said Lia, patting a small stone bench.

John sat down and just stared at the magnificence of everything. It wasn't long before Lia moved closer to him and snuggled against him.

"It's true," said Lia.

"What is," asked John.

"It feels even better when someone is with you. I always thought that coming up here with someone would be amazing and I was right," said Lia.

"I'm glad you trust me enough to let me see your special place," said John.

The view was truly amazing, but John felt some moroseness. He had a special place like this back on Earth, a place where he would always go when he was depressed. It was a small grove of trees which if you climbed to the top of one, you would find a platform that would let you see over the entire forest and the sun amongst the treetops.

"I had a place like this once, back when I lived in the 21st century," said John.

"Was it like this," said Lia.

"Yeah," said John, smiling.

"Was there…someone you shared it with," said Lia.

John face turned to a very depressing look.

"Yeah, someone who was very special to me. She was my best friend," said John.

"Did you like her…you know, that way," said Lia.

"Yeah, I did. She was the most amazing girl you could've ever met. Her name was Gina Pilgrim, and the two of us had been best friends for years, but I always felt something more for her," said John.

"Did you tell her how you felt," said Lia.

"I did, at a party the night before we graduated from school. I told her how I felt during a slow dance, while we were dancing close together, swaying to the music. After I told her, I kissed her. It turns out she felt the same way the entire time. At first I thought we were going to have a fairy tale ending and be together forever," said John.

"Did you have to leave her behind after you got frozen," said Lia, scared that he had someone back in the 21st century that he might still have feelings for.

"No, it ended before it began. There was another boy who liked Gina, almost to the point of obsession. When he saw us kissing, he became very angry, saying that I was in the way of him and Gina being together, and he attacked me. He beat me up pretty bad, but Gina tried to break up the fight. Vance, that was his name by the way, in his rage, punched her to the ground, which made me very angry. I then turned the tables in the fight and kicked his ass," said John, "I helped Gina up after that, and the two of us embraced," he let a smile come to his face for a moment before frowning again, "But what I didn't know was that Vance had a gun, and planned to kill me because with his messed up logic, he believed that if he killed me, Gina would be with him."

John paused for a moment, trying to compose himself to keep himself from crying, but he failed miserably.

"He fired off 4 shots; I was so scared that I was going to die, I felt my life flash. When I found out nothing hit me, I was relieved," said John, before letting the smile fall from his face.

"But I didn't know Vance was such a terrible shot that he completely missed me and hit Gina all 4 times," said John, letting his tears fall.

"I held her as she bled, as she died. I watched her die, listened to her breathe her last breaths," said John, eyes full of tears.

"She told me that she loved me ever since we were kids. She then made me promise her that she wouldn't become an anchor for me, that I wouldn't let her drag me down. I loved her and she made me act like she was already in a shallow grave. I was angry with her, but as I looked in her eyes, I saw the selfless girl I fell in love with. I promised her, and she said she was happy and wasn't afraid because she had known me. We kissed until she took her last breath and died, looking as if she was sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face," said John, letting a flicker of a smile come to his face amidst the tears.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you remember," said Lia, reaching out a hand and putting it on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Gina is my past, this is my future," said John, looking outwards.

"Are you going to be alright," said Lia in a concerned tone.

"Yeah, but can we go do something else," said John, with as much of a smile he could muster.

"Sure, we have plenty of time," said Lia.

"Plenty of time till what," said John.

"Oh just some reservations at a popular restaurant that serves levo and dextro foods, but for right now, I want to show you the sights," said Lia.

"Well, I'm the tourist here, so lead the way," said John.

The two then spent the whole day seeing the sights that Illium had to offer. They were having so much fun that John had completely forgotten what had upset him earlier. However there were several different incidences throughout the day in which they weren't allowed in some of the sights, on the sole basis that whenever they walked in to certain places, 5 people would claim Lia stole their wallets. Trying to keep his anger down was becoming harder and harder, but for her sake, he didn't punch every person who gave her a sneer. Luckily, there were several people that held no prejudices against quarians, which kept John sane and happy. However it wasn't long until the sun was going down and Lia realized they would have to be fast to make their dinner reservations. The two quickly grabbed a taxi which sped off to the Normandy so John could get changed into more formal clothes. The two then quickly caught another cab to the restaurant.

"How did you get reservations to this place, its more exclusive than any place I've ever seen according to reviews," said John in the taxi.

"Gabby and Kasumi asked Shepard to call in a few favors. Being the first human Spectre and the Savior of the Citadel gives him quite the prestige," said Lia.

"Remind me to thank him for this," said John, smiling.

"This is going to be great," said Lia.

The two got out when the taxi stopped and looked at the restaurant.

"Shall we milady," said John, holding his arm out.

"Of course good sir," said Lia, accepting the gesture.

The two walked in and headed towards the podium.

"Hello there," said the asari matradee trying to be as friendly as possible before looking up and seeing the two.

Her look then faded into a look of disinterest and disgust.

"We're not hiring right now, thank you," said the asari trying to shoo them away.

"Excuse me, we have a reservation," said John, "It should be underneath Desmond and Vael."

"I don't see anything here, now please leave," said asari without interest.

"You didn't even look," said Lia.

The asari then sighed and said, "Look, I don't know who you know that got you a reservation, but we don't serve your kind here," referring to Lia, "Now please leave before I call security to escort you out."

"Excuse me," said John with barely restrained anger.

"Leave. Now," said the asari.

John clenched his fist before letting himself relax slightly. He then said in a calm tone, but with undertones of so much anger that it caused everyone's spine to feel a sudden chill, "I would like to talk with your supervisor."

"He's out," said the asari.

"Then let me see your manager," said John.

"Sir, just leave," said the asari before she found her collar grabbed by John, who had eyes with flames at this point.

He then let go, took a deep breath, and said icily, "Manager. Now."

The asari then sighed with frustration and went off to get the manager. She returned with a human male who was much larger than John, but John wasn't intimidated.

"What seems to be the problem," said the manager.

"These two can't seem to understand that they don't have a reservation," said the asari.

"We do have a reservation, your clerk here just deleted it because my friend is a quarian," said John.

"Is this true Macy," said the manager.

"No, they just don't have a reservation," said Macy.

"Well, I guess there is no way to tell who's telling the truth," said the manager.

"But my commanding officer made the reservation this morning. Shepard said he called ahead…," said Lia before being interrupted.

"Wait, Savior of the Citadel Commander Shepard. I took his call this morning, you two must be the Desmond Vael party," said the manager.

"That would be us," said John, showing the manager their IDs.

"So what they're saying is true Macy," said the manager.

"Well…this is a very high-end establishment and I don't believe we should serve filth," said Macy.

"Mr. umm manager, I would suggest that you keep your employee's mouth shut as I will not stand my friend being treated this way. I trust that your establishment does not stand for racism of this sort," said John.

"Of course not sir, we are very open-minded here," said the manager in a tone that was sure and confident.

"Macy, pack up your things. You are fired; you have till the end of the day to clean out your locker," said the manager.

"What! You're going to fire me just for speaking my mind? Quarians are trash collecting vagrants who should never leave their damn Flotilla in the first place," said Macy.

"That's it," yelled John and he reached to give this woman a real piece of his mind.

The only thing that held him back was Lia holding his shoulder and giving him a sad look that said, "Please don't."

John took a final deep breath which was killing him to keep his anger bottled up. The manager saw that the man was one more slur away from slugging his now former employee.

"Macy, just leave before I have security throw you out," said the manager.

"NO! I refuse to leave just because I gave my opinion on this…" Macy didn't get to finish her sentence as the manager clamped his hand around her mouth before they would have a serious problem.

He called security and two large men escorted the offending woman out.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Desmond; please accept a dinner for two, on the house of course, as a token of our apology," said the manager.

"As long as there are no more incidents like the one we just had for the rest of the evening. I hope your words hold true that the rest of your employees don't have any prejudices," said John, in a calm tone.

The two were led to a table outside, overlooking a view. The two sat down at the table and were given some menus.

"I'm sorry," said John after a while.

"No, it wasn't your fault," said Lia, "I should have expected this after everything that happened today."

"You shouldn't have to expect it, you shouldn't be treated like dirt," said John.

"It's no big deal," said Lia morosely.

"It is a big deal, people judging you simply for your race rather than for whom you are," said John.

"I'm no one special," said Lia quietly.

"Yes you are," said John, "You are one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my entire life, both in the past and in the future. You're smarter than anyone I've seen, you are amazing to be around. But most of all," taking her hands, "You're the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

Lia blushed at this, and looked away.

John didn't rescind his comments and didn't blush because it was the absolute truth about how he felt.

The two of them said, "The truth is," at the same time.

"Sorry," they said.

"You go first," said John.

"You go first," said Lia.

"I insist," said John.

Lia then took his hand and said, "Just tell me John."

John paused for a moment and said, "Alright, the truth is that…look at that woman over there."

Lia felt disappointed and John realized what he had said and clarified, "No I mean look at that woman over there, she's bleeding."

Lia then looked up and looked towards where John was pointing and saw an asari woman in combat armor and, just as John said, was clutching her side and bleeding.

The two lept up and ran over to the woman.

"Ma'am you're really hurt, I have a dose of medi-gel right here, just hang on," said John, applying the dose to the woman's side.

"What happened to you," said Lia.

"I had a run-in with some mercenaries, no big deal kids," said the asari.

"No big deal! You have a giant hole in your side," said John.

"Thanks for your help," said the asari.

"John, Lia, get away from her," yelled Shepard.

"Idiots," said the asari with an evil smile, pushing John away with biotics and grabbing Lia, putting a pistol to her head.

"I should have known that you people weren't too far behind," said the asari.

"Let the woman go Vasir," said Shepard.

"Why, she's a quarian, who honestly could care about her," said Vasir.

"I said, let her go," said Shepard with gritted teeth.

"Please, don't kill me," said Lia, scared for her life.

"Put down your thermal clips and power cells or the quarian dies," said Vasir.

"You don't want to do this," said Garrus.

"Put them down," said Vasir, pushing the gun more towards Lia's head.

"HEY TENTACLE HEAD," yelled a voice on her right side.

"You want to die too huh," said Vasir, pointing the gun at the source of the noise.

She then was surprised when she saw a drone flying in the vicinity.

"NOW," yelled the drone, and Vasir was hit by a table thrown by biotics by Liara, which separated Lia from Vasir.

John then rushed out and pulled Lia behind some make-shift cover.

"You alright," said John.

"Aside from the fact my suit is now wet after having a gun aimed right at my head," said Lia sarcastically.

"Well, I'll protect you from the big bad squid," said John.

The two heard loud explosions coming from the front of their cover, which caused the two to hide closer to the ground while holding each other close.

The loud explosions continued for several minutes, until they suddenly stopped. The two were still scared so John got up slowly and looked around. Seeing that the fighting had stopped, he motioned Lia to get up as well. They ran over to where Shepard and his group was to see if they were okay. They were shocked to see the woman named Vasir on the ground, dead, and Garrus on the ground, unconscious.

"Is Garrus alright," said John.

"He took a blast from Vasir and landed pretty hard on his head, otherwise I am certain he will be alright," said Liara, "Liara T'Soni by the way, I was a member of Shepard's team on the original Normandy. You must be John Desmond, the cryonic man."

"That would be me, and this is my friend Lia'Vael nar Ulnay," said John, "If she doesn't seem friendly it's because the dead asari down there nearly killed her."

"Is Mr. Vakarian really going to be okay," said Lia.

"If you have some medi-gel that would be great," said Shepard, and Lia moved to apply it, "Thanks for the distraction John."

"I'm just glad Lia is okay," said John.

"So, did you tell her," said Shepard.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about," said John.

"About you and her," said Shepard quietly.

John sighed and said, "Well, I tried, before a crazy asari woman came and tried to kill us."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Shepard, rubbing the back of his head.

* * *

><p>Lia finished applying the dose and sighed as she did. The perfect moment to tell John how she felt, gone thanks to that damn woman. She found herself feeling very angry, and very hollow.<p>

"Are you alright Lia," said Liara.

"Nothing physical, but I'm probably going to have nightmares about this for a couple of weeks. It's not often I get a heavy pistol pointed at my head by a crazed asari woman," said Lia.

"When you're a member of the Normandy, you have to get used to these kinds of things," joked Liara.

Lia laughed heartily and said, "Maybe I shouldn't have joined back on the Citadel. Yet, I don't regret my decision at all," looking at John.

"You care greatly for him, don't you," said Liara.

"Yes," said Lia, after a pause.

* * *

><p>John decided to check on Lia and Garrus and see how they were doing.<p>

He moved towards them, only to see movement. He saw the asari Spectre Vasir grunting in pain and coughing up blood, but was raising her pistol. John saw who she was aiming at; she was aiming straight at Lia.

"Lia, look out," yelled John, running and pushing her out of the way.

Vasir fired off two shots, both hitting John in the chest. John clutched his chest and pain and doubled over, falling unconscious.

"JOHN," yelled Lia, and she rushed to his side.

Liara pulled out her pistol and shot Vasir in the head, killing her. She then moved to examine John, concluding that if they applied medi-gel now they would have to reopen his wounds to remove the bullets later. The best thing she could do was to look for some cloth or some towels to staunch his bleeding.

Shepard activated the comms to call the local hospital for an a couple ambulances for John and Garrus.

"_Hang on Desmond, don't give up on me,_" thought Shepard, as he watched him bleeding out with Lia holding him tight.

The ambulances came a short time later and loaded John and Garrus into them, Lia insisting she wouldn't leave John's side and getting into the ambulance as well. He got in to Garrus's ambulance and they departed for the hospital.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime later<em>

Shepard found his way into John's room after sometime and after making sure Garrus was okay. When he had come to, Shepard told him about John taking two rounds in the chest and was currently in surgery.

Shepard looked at his friend, hooked up to a small life-support apparatus, with Lia by his side, holding his hand.

The doctors told Shepard that luckily the bullets didn't hit anything major, but he had lost a very large amount of blood. The doctors were busy doing exams to find his blood type since no medical records existed of him. After finding out his blood type, the doctors began scrambling, hoping to find human blood to transfuse into him and save his life.

Shepard looked around the room and saw Kenneth and Gabby standing in the corner holding each other.

"How could this happen to John," said Gabby.

"We were chasing after a rogue asari Spectre which led to a firefight. No one was hurt, but while Lia was doing an examination on Garrus, the Spectre tried to kill her. John pushed her out of the way and took the bullets meant for her. And here we are," said Shepard.

"Will the lad make it," said Kenneth with concern.

"If the doctors can find some blood to transfuse into him, then yes, he'll make a full recovery," said Shepard.

Shepard looked at Lia, who he guessed was crying with guilt.

"It's my fault he was there. It's my fault…It's my fault," said Lia over and over.

"Don't…Don't blame yourself," said John weakly, eyes opening slightly.

"John," said Gabby.

"Lad, you're alive," exclaimed Kenneth.

"I thought I lost you," said Lia.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy Ms. Vael," said John, laughing a bit before wincing in pain.

"Guys, can you please leave for a bit? I need to talk to Lia alone," said John in almost a whisper.

"No problem John," said Gabby, and she herded everyone out.

After everyone was gone, John turned to Lia, smiled, and said, "You alright?"

"That's what I'm supposed to say you bosh'tet," said Lia quietly.

"I'll be fine, just feeling a bit of a pain in my chest," said John.

"This was all my fault," said Lia.

"It was not, I'm the one who did the whole "be a hero" routine," said John, "If there's anyone to blame here, it's me."

Lia laughed a bit and held his hand for a little longer, and a bout of silence passed over.

"I'm glad you're alright," said John, coughing a bit.

"Save your strength John," said Lia, trying to calm him down.

"I'll be fine, I lived in New York City you know," said John.

"What does that have to do with anything," said Lia.

"New York is a tough place," said John, shrugging.

The two of them laughed a bit, and another bout of silence occurred.

"Um Lia," said John.

"Yeah John," said Lia.

"Um, this seems weird asking right now but, back at the restaurant, before the crazed Spectre I mean, what was it that you were going to say," said John.

"Oh um…nothing, just nothing," said Lia, lowering her head.

"Lia, what's wrong? Just tell me," said John.

Lia got up and looked away from him, moving to the window of his room.

"Lia," said John, concerned.

"It's not that easy you know, just telling you. The only reason why I could tell you then was because the moment was perfect," said Lia, "I have feelings for someone."

"Well, that's great. Who is it," said John, confused.

"You bosh'tet," said Lia walking over and slapping him.

"Ow, what was that for," said John, now more confused.

"You can't see the obvious, can you? The person I have feelings for is you, you bosh'tet. I LOVE YOU," yelled Lia.

John opened his mouth but no words, well coherent ones, "HUBBADUBADA WHAT!"

Lia lost all of her nerve at that point, and ran out of the room in tears.

"Lia wait," John yelled, trying to get up, only to fall back in severe pain.

A nurse walked in and tried to calm him down but John only struggled more.

Gabby and Kenneth ran into the room to calm John down, but he just continued to struggle.

"John, calm down please," said Gabby.

"No, I have to find Lia. I have to tell her that I…," John tried to say before being given a mild sedative through his IV.

"Don't worry lad, we'll find her," said Kenneth.

"I have to tell her," John said over and over, before starting to lose consciousness.

Kenneth and Gabby ran off to find Lia, while John continued to babble incoherently.

"Lia…I love you too," was the last thing he said before feeling the darkness consume him.

* * *

><p>(<em><strong>Author's Note<strong>_)

_Next Chapter- Shepard Interlude 3: Lair Of The Shadow Broker_

After weeks of work, another chapter is completed, sorry for the wait.

I currently have 3 projects working so don't expect an update for a very long while. However, feel free to check out my other stories in progress, LH: All In The Family and my other Mass Effect story Virtues and Sacrifices.

Thank you to my constant reviewers Liege Lord, douchiesnacks, and Deaths-head and thank you Thedarkstorm for your recommending WhiteZephyr. If you are a fan of Infamous or Assassin's Creed, check WhiteZephyr out.

Well, goodbye, peace in the Middle East, and you know the rest.

Oh and don't expect Mass Effect: Investigation (my side-story to this story) for a very long while.

_Possible Ideas for side stories:_

Phillip/EDI story  
>JacobKasumi story  
>GruntJack story  
>Story explaining the story of the yellow-eyed man from the beginning<p>

Message me and tell me what you think. Also, if you have something you want to see, whether in this story or you have an idea for a side-story yourself, within reason of course, send me a PM or just leave a review. Thank you Thedarkstorm.

**FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT**

I will be setting up a beta-reader profile soon, so if you want my help with a story you want to publish, you know where to find me.

_Final word count for this_ _chapter: _16,774


	12. Shepard In 3: Lair of The Shadow Broker

**The Cryonic Man  
><strong>Shepard Interlude 3: The Observer and Lair of the Shadow Broker**  
><strong>

A bit of foreword

This is my first story so please no flames.  
>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).<br>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create

Much to the chagrin of a large amount of people, I'm still very much alive.

Apologies for not updating in a long while, I had a few projects to work on during the summer and school's now back in session. I thank any of you who offer to help me, but I have a very set story for this fic and its sequel (more later).

Couple changes to Shepard's background

-Now Colonist instead of Spacer  
>-Military History changed to War HeroForgiver (explanation later)

* * *

><p>Shepard stood there near John's bed in the hospital. He was still fast asleep after the surgery that he just had, also because the damn nurse had put more sedative in his IV than necessary. Shepard had forced himself not to knock her teeth in. The doctor had told Shepard that the initial diagnosis had been wrong; there was more damage than initially thought, especially to his lungs. Whatever damage had been done, John was now the owner of a brand new experimental lung implant designed to keep him alive. Shepard had never heard of the technology behind it before, but if it kept John alive he was more than happy to pay for it.<p>

He felt angry at the nurse, at the doctor, at that Asari Spectre, but most of all at himself for not making sure she was really dead.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback to this morning<em>

Shepard, Tali, and Garrus, stepped out of the Normandy and headed towards Liara's office near the transport docks. After an awkward encounter with an asari with a message from the Rachni Queen, Shepard talked with Liara's assistant and moved towards her office.

Shepard stopped however near her door.

"Something wrong Shepard," said Garrus.

"I haven't seen or heard from Liara in over two years, maybe she's moved on to bigger and better things," said Shepard.

"Well Liara kind of dropped off the radar after you died, but come on, I'm sure she's the same quirky asari archaeologist we first met on Therum," said Garrus.

Tali opened the door since Shepard still felt apprehensive and the group headed inside.

They saw Liara talking to some human on hologram, "Have you faced an asari commando unit, few humans have. I'll make it simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive. With my mind."

"Well there goes my hopes," said Garrus, disrupting the conversation.

"S-Shepard," said Liara, surprised, "This isn't over, have my money by the end of the day or we're going to have a serious problem."

"Nyxeris, hold my calls," she called out to her assistant.

"It's good to see you Shepard, my sources said you were alive, but I never believed…It's very good to see you," she said, giving Shepard a hug.

"Since when did you have sources, or threaten to psychically skin people," said Shepard.

"How about you clue us in Buffalo Blue," said Garrus.

"Well after I helped you take down Saren, there was a lot of people who wanted to be my friend, and even more didn't want to be my enemy. I couldn't just go back to archeology, so I set up a respectable business as an information broker. As for that conversation you heard, a client of mine was angry over the information he received, but he'll pay, they always do. It's paid the bills for the past 2 years, since you well…," Liara left it open but Shepard knew what she was going to say, "And now you're back, working for Cerberus, gunning for the Collectors. They say the Collectors live beyond the Omega 4 relay, that it's impossible to fight them. Why am I saying this to you though, you've made a living on doing the impossible."

"Well I'm back, and you know I need your help," said Shepard.

"Of course, but it will have to come later, as I have prior engagements to take care of," said Liara.

"What kind of things do you need to take care of? Are you in some sort of trouble," asked Shepard.

"No, no trouble. It's just been a long two years, there are just debts I need to repay," said Liara.

"_Liara you have to go,"_

"_Feron please,"_

"_You have Shepard's body, get it to Cerberus before the Collectors get it. It's alright, I can handle them."_

"If you want to help, I need someone with hacking expertise, someone I can trust. If you could disable security at key points around Illium, you could get me the information I need. It would help me a great deal," said Liara.

"I don't know Shepard, this sounds suspect," said Tali.

"What's this about Liara, why won't you tell me," said Shepard.

"Don't you think I want to, Shepard? This isn't because I don't trust you, this is Illium, anything I say is probably being recorded," said Liara.

"All right, I'll do it, but only if you can give me some information later. I'm searching for an asari justicar named Samara and an assassin named Thane Krios," said Shepard.

"Deal, just allow me some time to find them while you deal with the terminals," said Liara.

"Alright, come on guys let's go," said Shepard.

"It was good seeing you again Liara," said Tali.

"Have you happened to get any messages from Kaidan by any chance," said Garrus as Tali and Shepard left.

"Yes, but I have been far too busy, I have not had the chance to read any of them," said Liara.

"Well, turns out he didn't betray Shepard for nothing; he did it to save your ass, as well as mine and Tali's. Read his latest message, it'll explain everything," said Garrus, leaving the room and hearing an argument between Tali and Shepard.

"You don't know what she'll do with the information Shepard," said Tali.

"Liara is our friend Tali, if she was going to do something malicious with it, she would tell me," said Shepard.

"I don't trust her, you saw how much she's changed. She might just be using you to her ends," said Tali.

"Well I do trust her, and I know you're still mad at her for making passes at me when we first got together. That was a catfight I sure didn't want to happen," said Shepard.

"How dare you bring that up you-you bosh'tet," said Tali, getting angrier.

"I'm a bosh'tet, let me tell you something…,"

"ENOUGH! Both of you stop fighting, you're acting like children. Tali, I see that Liara has changed but you shouldn't assume the worst of her, she's our friend. Likewise Shepard, Tali has the right to be cautious after what we just saw. Shepard I can't believe you would sink so low, especially with Tali," said Garrus, "Now let's get going, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can move on and you two can do whatever it is you do to make up. Move it."

"Got it Garrus," they both said, never seen him with that much conviction before. Shepard made a mental note to talk to him to see what was on his mind.

"Alright, now we got the terminals on our maps, let's get that info," said Garrus.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime later<em>

"The terminals are hacked, you have your information, now what?" said Shepard.

"Here's something for your help, it's not much, but hopefully it will help you on your mission," said Liara, "Thank you, with the data you extracted I've found a target to look for. The Shadow Broker has several contacts here on Illium. The most powerful one is called the Observer, and taking him down will make me one step closer, I could use your help."

"Tell me what I can do," said Shepard.

"Your data pointed me at logs kept by Shadow Broker agents. The logs were deleted, but it may be possible to reconstruct some of it," said Liara, "The Shadow Broker is cautious. His agents are referred to only by title and race."

"I've done some inquiries and have narrowed the Observer down to one of five operatives: a turian, a salarian, a krogan, a batarian, and a vorcha," said Nyxeris, Liara's assistant.

"If we can refine the list, we'll know where to strike," said Liara.

"Any more specifics on these agents," asked Garrus.

"I'm afraid not, I was lucky to get as much as I did," said Nyxeris, "Happy to help ma'am," to Liara.

"The data you found is our only key to finding the Observer, and if we wait too long all of them will disappear," said Liara.

"Just who is the Shadow Broker, and why are you so afraid of him," said Shepard.

"You could say he's more afraid of me. As for the Shadow Broker he's the most powerful information broker in the whole of the galaxy, you should remember him. His operative Barla Von helped you find Wrex," said Liara.

"And his other operative Fist sold me out to Saren," said Tali.

Shepard glowered at that, while it was a partially happy memory as it was the first time he met Tali, he -still felt angry at that turian who tried to grab things he shouldn't. The thousand rounds in that turian's skull helped remedy that though.

"I'll reconstruct the data and tell you what I find," replied Shepard.

"When you find something, call me on the radio channel we used in the old days, I can't risk handling this in person. And Shepard, thank you," said Liara.

Shepard got up to leave and headed towards the door.

"Great, more terminal hacking for us," said Garrus as they walked out.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime later<em>

Shepard finished hacking the last terminal and viewed the last data packet, and found himself scratching his head in confusion.

"This doesn't make any sense, according to this data the Observer is female. That means none of our suspects fit," said Shepard.

"But if none of them fit, how are we going to find the Observer," said Tali.

Garrus walked away with a contemplative look on his face when all of a sudden realization hit.

"We take a look at who gave the leads in the first place. The only person who had anything to gain by withholding information is the Observer. In hindsight I should have realized that if the Shadow Broker was as afraid of Liara as she claimed, who better than one of his best operatives to infiltrate her workplace and eliminate her if she got too close. With the information she gave us, she was leading us away the whole time," said Garrus.

"Nyxeris," said Shepard, realizing what Garrus was talking about as well.

"We have to warn Liara," said Tali, and the group started running towards her office.

"Liara, this is Shepard, please answer," yelled Shepard on his comm. link.

"_Shepard, have you found out who the Observer is_," replied Liara.

"Get out of your office now, it's Nyxeris, she's the Observer," yelled Shepard.

"_But that's impossible,_" said Liara.

"_Or is it_," Shepard heard another voice say, before the comms went dead.

"Liara, LIARA," yelled Shepard, sprinting even faster now before getting to her office and opening the door. He saw Liara on the ground covered in blood and Nyxeris holding a pistol at her head.

"Put down the guns or little miss info broker gets it," said Nyxeris.

"Funny, you seemed to be much nicer when we first came around," said Shepard.

"That was my cover, keeping her away from my boss. I was going to send her on a never-ending goose chase and make my escape when she found out the truth but you had to show up and speed up the progress," said Nyxeris, "You made a mistake by going after the Shadow Broker, he's an enemy you don't want to make."

"Are all of his agents incompetent, or do all of them stab their clients in the back," said Tali.

"If you're talking about Fist, he was disavowed years ago," said Nyxeris and off the team's surprised expressions, "Of course I know, the Shadow Broker knows all about all of you, especially you Commander Shepard. The Collectors still want your body, so I wonder how much of a reward my boss would give me for bringing you in."

"You can ask him yourself when he joins you in hell," said Liara, her body giving off blue pulses as she threw Nyxeris against the wall.

"Damn biotic bitch," said Nyxeris reaching for her gun but Garrus grabbed it before she could.

"You'll never stop the Broker, with me dead he'll come after you even harder than before," said Nyxeris, "Face it, you'll win battles, but you'll never win the war."

"He won't come after me because when he sends his agents to come looking for me I'll be long gone. Besides, he doesn't care about how much skill you have, you're just as expendable as the rest of his agents," said Liara before picking her up with her mind and preparing to tear her apart.

"Liara stop," said Shepard, "You're not this cruel, put her down. We can find out where the Broker is but only if she's still alive."

"She won't talk, she's been trained not to," said Liara.

"Liara please," Shepard said, looking at her with pleading eyes.

Liara hesitated slightly, before she put her down outright.

"Alright, tell us where to find the Broker, Observer," said Liara.

"You think I'm just going to tell you, he'll kill me if I even consider telling you," said Nyxeris.

"We can protect you," said Shepard.

"No you can't, and now that I've failed no one can save me," said Nyxeris looking out the window as a bullet came in and hit her straight in the head. She slumped to the ground, took one final breath and died.

"Get down," said Shepard.

"Don't bother, the sniper won't fire at us again. Their job is already complete," said Liara, "Damn it, I was so close. I'm sorry Feron, I failed you."

"Wait, Feron," said Garrus, "Shepard didn't we get a data recording from Cerberus, something about some drell named Feron."

"What is he talking about Shepard," said Liara and Tali, the two narrowing his eyes at him.

Shepard sighed, and mentally cursed Garrus in his head, and said, "A couple days ago, right after we had a little adventure on the Horizon, I got a message from some cell in Cerberus who gave me a recording to give to you. But you said we might currently be recorded so I couldn't give the recording for fear of someone warning the Shadow Broker before we could get him."

Shepard activated his Omni-tool and gave Liara the recording.

"It looks like a leaked transmission between some of his operatives, a few hints to his location and…Feron, you're alive," said Liara, holding back tears.

"Who is Feron anyway," said Garrus, "Some old boyfriend."

"No, he was just a friend. He helped me recover Shepard's body from the Shadow Broker," said Liara.

"So the Broker really did want to give my corpse to the Collectors," said Shepard.

"Yes, but Feron and I stopped him. He…sacrificed himself to help me get you out of there and save me," said Liara.

"But if you rescued him, how did he end up with Cerberus," said Tali.

"They were the ones who gave me the intel to help find Shepard. They lead me to Feron as well," said Liara, "After I got out, I gave them Shepard. They said they could bring him back."

"Why didn't you tell me," said Tali, obviously hurt.

"What does it matter, he's here now isn't he. And from the chatter I've heard he still wants you," said Liara.

"So that's it, you thought they would bring back Shepard and you could have him for yourself," said Tali.

"I did not, I knew he was going to go back to you, why do you think I gave Cerberus information about Freedom's Progress," said Liara, "You think Cerberus choosing to search that colony was merely chance. I don't even know why he chose you. At least with me or even Ashley he could have us anytime he wants us."

"At least it shows he wants love in his life and not just sex, but then again you just can't stand it can you, how he rejects feminine wiles for women who actually have personality," said Tali.

"Enough both of you," said Garrus, "When did I have to become the mediator in every argument?"

The two women huffed and turned their backs away from each other.

"You two need to bury this hatchet now, I'm sick of hearing you two argue. You argued on the SR-1, you argued on missions, you even argued during my funeral and yes I heard it on all the recordings. This is why I was glad to be dead, at least it was quiet," said Shepard.

"Shepard, I," said Tali and Liara both said.

"Stop, I don't want to hear it from either of you. Bury the hatchet, or if neither of you have anything to say that isn't an insult of the other than button your yaps shut. You two couldn't put aside that jealousy of each other even when I was dead, when I was lying in a coffin never to come back. Maybe I shouldn't have been brought back, because at least then you two would at least civil towards each other," said Shepard stomping out of the room.

"Way to go, it's bad enough he has to deal with Collectors, Reapers, Cerberus, and the entire galaxy turning his back on him. Not just that but he has to do deal with the stress of being back from the dead and the nightmares that accompany it. He hasn't had a good night sleep in days but you don't care do you. Too busy caring about your own problems and squabbles to even consider someone other than yourselves. So congrats, you gave Shepard another reason to hate the fact he's alive. How about you both just suck in your pride and grow the hell up. " said Garrus leaving to look for Shepard.

The two women looked at him stunned, before looking down ashamed.

"He's right you know, both of us have been fighting since you and Shepard got together. We could barely stay civil at his funeral for goddess's sake," said Liara.

"I haven't been attentive to him enough, I was too worried about my own situation to even consider his. The two of us haven't even slept in the same bed since he got back. I had my mission to think about, and my squad which the idiot Prazza got killed, and my second squad which I got killed. Every time I was put in command I got people killed," said Tali, looking out the window, "Shepard always seemed so confident when he's in command. He never got people killed, and I always felt safe when he was there. I assumed he was just as confident and steadfast off the battlefield as he was on. He was my everything, my rock, the person I turned to whenever I needed help whenever I needed comfort. When he died I spent two years trying to get stronger, to try to change myself so I wouldn't need him. And now he's back, and I need him even more now than I did then."

"And he needs you," said Liara, "Your rock needs his rock, maybe that's why he chose you. Whenever he went through a tough mission you were there to hold him. Ashley and I, we were in love with the hero, you were in love with the man. The same way he fell for you despite the suit. I was a bigot, just as Ashley, believed you weren't good enough for him. That's why I made those passes at him, that I was who he should be with. It was only after he died, and seeing how you were at his funeral how much emotion you showed, that I finally knew. He was everything to you. That he was the first man and non-quarian to not treat you like you were lower than the rest of us."

"There's a new quarian/human couple on the Normandy you know. John Desmond and Lia'Vael, just like me and Shepard, a quarian on pilgrimage and human man who treats her like a person rather than a walking suit. It was like me and Shepard only younger, not that he and I are that old mind you," said Tali, "I depended on him more than anyone else, now this time around he depends on me. Garrus and Shepard are right, we've been fighting every day, when we shouldn't be. It's been two years, and we've made no progress in mending the rift between us. We need to bury the hatchet, end this feud, and move on with our lives. So…friends," and she held out her three-fingered hand.

"Friends," said Liara, shaking her hand.

"I need to go find Shepard and apologize," said Tali.

"I need to look over this data, tell Shepard and Garrus I'm sorry, and come over to my apartment when you get the chance. Bring them by too, I need to make amends and I may need all of your help to find the Shadow Broker. Address should be on your Omni-tool," said Liara.

"We'll all come by later today, and you should come by the Normandy, Joker and Doctor Chakwas would really like to see you," said Tali, walking out.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile<em>

Shepard stood out on a balcony in the trade depot hearing a volus and an asari argue about prefabs, but he didn't care. He stared out at the view of the city, sun was still high in the sky.

He heard Garrus approaching and saw him walk up to the left of him, leaning against the balcony just like him.

"Some day this has been so far huh," said Garrus, "Those two have really been going at it."

"Just another great thing about being back," said Shepard.

"And there's that post-revival depression again. You're better than that Alex, the galaxy needs you, and Tali needs you more than that," said Garrus.

"Sometimes I wish no one needed me, that I was just another soldier on the memorial wall. If it wasn't for the Reapers Saren wouldn't have gone crazy, Nihlus and Ashley wouldn't be dead…"

"And Anderson wouldn't be Councilor, and you wouldn't have met me or Liara or Tali or Wrex for that matter. I would be sitting behind a desk at C-Sec, Liara would still be excavating for Prothean artifacts, and Tali would be dead in a gutter somewhere. We're not just your squad Alex, we're your friends. Tali, Liara, Wrex, Kaidan, Joker, Doctor Chakwas and I will all swear to that. Even the new guard will swear to it, hell even Jacob and Miranda might swear to it. You need us so we can take some of the burdens off your shoulders, so the mighty Atlas doesn't have to hold up the world himself," said Garrus, "You're like a brother to me, just like Tali is a sister to me. The three of us have been through a lot, I saw love bloom between you two, I was even there when the two of you got together. I was there to comfort her when you died, there to see her hug you again on Haestrom. If you have to face the worst the galaxy has to offer, isn't it worth it to be with her again?"

"Maybe. It was one of the things I regretted when I died. Now I'm back, two years later, and everyone and everything has changed. Remember back before thermal clips and you could slap omni-gel onto everything," said Shepard and he and Garrus shared a laugh, "I was just another soldier, and everyone put me on this pedestal that I don't even deserve. Some days I wish it had just ended with Sovereign, that I could retire, that the galaxy could save itself for once…that my parents were still alive and wish they would be proud."

"I heard you were on Mindoir, but I never believed it before, not until you helped that suicidal girl. How is Talitha anyway," said Garrus.

"She's doing alright, as well as she could be after what happened to her anyway. She barely remembers anything about her life before, but I know a thing or two. I was 16 when the invasion happened, but I remember that I was a babysitter for her family. I'm not even sure if she remembers herself," said Shepard, "I'd rather move away from that topic for now, it brings up painful memories."

"Of course, back to Liara and Tali. Those two have always fought and not much will change that. It's up to them to change, not you. Maybe after all of this is over, we can all get a drink and you and Tali can make kissy faces at each other all night to make up or whatever you two do to make up after a fight," joked Garrus, with an obvious mirth.

"My relationship is my business, just like your relationship with Kelly," said Shepard.

"Actually Kelly and I broke up," said Garrus, "I realized she loved me because I was an alien, not because I was Garrus."

"Is that why you yelled at me and Tali when we were going to hack those terminals," said Shepard.

"Well that, and I couldn't stand the sibling rivalry going on. I'm also dealing with a few personal issues myself. Since when did I become the responsible brother in our relationship, I'm supposed to be the fun loving one."

"When you pull the stick out your ass like Joker has told you several times to do, then you can be the fun loving one," said Shepard, earning a laugh from Garrus, "Thanks for the pep talk, by the way. I can put down the metaphorical gun pointed out my head."

"No problem, and if you ever need an oasis away from the madness, I'm always up for a drink," said Garrus.

"Now that I think about it, it might be good to get the old team together to catch up, maybe meet the new guys," said Shepard.

"Well we've met up with everyone except Wrex so far, and he hasn't left Tuchanka since you died. But something tells me we'll meet up with him eventually," said Garrus, "Well I smell a strong scent of antibiotics on the wind so I suspect Tali is coming over to apologize. I'll head over to that bar I heard about from Jack. Let me know when we're heading out."

Shepard still stood there as Tali appeared next to him.

"Hey," said Shepard.

"Hey," said Tali.

"Sorry about yelling at the two of you, I just haven't been doing too well on sleep lately," said Shepard.

"It's alright, I know you're just under a lot of stress lately, and I haven't been paying attention to you lately like a good girlfriend should," said Tali.

"Well you have only been back a day or two, you have a wide berth I should say," said Shepard.

"I mean since you've been back. I spent two years grieving and wishing for you to come back, then I finally got my wish and I don't leave with you right then and there. And what did I get out of it, being put in command again and getting another squad killed. When I make a bad decision I get a squad killed, with you…" Tali refused to finish that sentence.

"With me, I make a mistake the whole galaxy may die. But two years, two years I was gone and everyone moved on. Some days I wished it had ended with Sovereign that I could have retired and lived my life. Now look at me, working for a terrorist organization, filled with more cybernetics than a geth, fighting an enemy that I can't find, going from a hero to an outcast," said Shepard.

"But you have people. You have Wrex, Joker, Liara, Garrus, Kaidan. You have Mordin, Grunt, and Kasumi, Zaeed. But most of all you have me, a beautiful girl willing to bend over backwards to please you."

Shepard laughed, "I guess you're right, but you forgot Jack, Jacob, John, Kenneth, Gabby, and Lia. Tell you what, make it up to me with a drink."

"Alright, but we have to stop off at Liara's place later, talk about the Shadow Broker and what we're going to do," said Tali, "only a matter of time before he comes for you."

"If any of his other agents are as competent as Fist and Nyxeris, Liara may be right about him fearing us more than us fearing him," said Shepard.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime later<em>

The group knew something was up as the hover car landed. The rain outside along with the thunder was prominent. They approached the apartment with uncertainty and found a police crossing line at the front door along with several detectives.

"We got bullet holes in the windows, but no body, no blood splatter, no trace," said one of the detectives.

"Get the trace evidence bagged, we need to get this to the techs," said one of the others, scanning a hand print near the ground.

"Central, we got an open carrier on this end. Switching to a coded relay," said one of the officers.

"What the heck is going on here," said Shepard.

"Sir, this is a crime scene currently being sealed off, I need you to step back," said the officer.

"Sealed off? What happened," said Shepard.

"Someone tried to kill your friend, Commander Shepard," said an asari in dark blue armor.

"Thank you officer for your help, your people are dismissed," said the asari.

"You can't do that," said the officer.

"Already done," said the asari.

The officers grunted their disapproval, but said nothing and left.

"Thanks, Miss…" said Garrus.

"Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Recon," said Tela.

"A Spectre huh," said Shepard.

"Heard you were reinstated by the Council, nice to see you're back. You were one of our most famous operatives, might even get you to sign my chest plate." said Tela, "I assume you had business with the resident of this apartment."

"The apartment belongs to Liara T'Soni, my team and I were coming here to discuss a lead on the location of a special target," said Shepard.

"Anyone I know," said Tela.

"Maybe, what do you know of the Shadow Broker," said Shepard.

"I know he's a powerful man, someone you don't want to mess with," said Tela.

"Do we know anything so far," said Shepard.

"Sniper took a few shots at your friend, T'Soni stuck around for a few minutes, then ran out.

"If Liara believed her apartment wasn't safe she would've left something behind for us, a message of some sort," said Garrus.

"Not surprising if she was paranoid, Illium is just Omega with better paint and more tourists," said Tela, "You're free to look around, I haven't found anything of note yet."

Shepard turned to Garrus and Tali and said, "Take a look around here, I'll try upstairs."

Garrus moved towards the window, "Hmm. The rifle wasn't standard issue, broke through the window despite the barriers."

Tali looked around at the artifacts, "That's a piece of your old N7 armor."

Shepard looked around upstairs and saw a photo of the old SR1. Feeling nostalgic he picked it up, only for the picture to change as it did.

"Bio-encoded to your ID, clever woman," said Tela.

"Looks like a Prothean dig site, Liara did leave a message," said Shepard.

"There are a few Prothean artifacts down here," yelled Tali.

Shepard headed downstairs and headed towards Tali, who was standing in front of some Prothean tablet. Shepard touched the glass and a small compartment opened, revealing a data disk.

"Vasir, I got something," said Shepard.

"Let's try it on that terminal," said Tela.

Shepard put the disk in and a recorded call started playing.

"_What have you got Sekat_," said Liara.

"_It was tricky, but I believe I can have it narrowed it down to a cluster, maybe even a single system_," said Sekat.

"_How soon_," said Liara.

"_Shouldn't take very long. Come to my office, Barla Foundation, Dracon Trade Center_," said Sekat, "_Gotta say, you're making me nervous. How big is the trouble that can come out of this?"_

"_Relax Sekat. I'll see you in a few hours_," said Liara.

"This must be important, The Shadow Broker's people have already tried to kill her once," said Shepard.

"I know where Dracon Trade Center is, my car is outside," said Tela.

"Well let's go, we have no time to lose," said Shepard.

* * *

><p>"The Barla Frontiers offices are on the third floor. No police chatter, we must have missed one hell of a party," said Tela, getting out of the car along with the others.<p>

Their musings were cut short as they saw a large explosion happen above their heads

"Liara's in there," yelled Tali, before another larger explosion knocked everyone off their feet.

The group got back up and looked at the devastation. Pieces of the building had fallen all over the place and several people were dead.

"Christ, the bastards took out 3 floors just to get to Liara," said Garrus.

"I'll grab the skycar and seal the building from the top. Whoever these people are, they are not getting away," said Tela.

"We'll start down here and work our way up," said Shepard as Tela got into the car.

"Just leave a couple for me," said Tela.

Shepard, Tali, and Garrus, headed forward hearing several people freak out about the explosions.

They headed inside and came upon the ruined atrium of the plaza. Shepard turned and tried to activate the elevators, only for them to shut down.

"Dammit, elevators are down," said Shepard.

"So is building security," said Tali, looking at her Omni-tool.

Garrus tried his comms, "Vasir, we have no elevators and building security is disabled, do you copy?"

"_Yeah I'm still here. No alarms, no police, this wasn't done by any old mercenary, this was a professional job_," said Vasir.

The group headed towards the stairs and headed up towards the atrium offices. They saw corpses littered the entire place. Shepard looked at one of the bodies with confusion.

"Bullet holes," said Shepard, examining the body, "Vasir, you were right, we have professionals here and their using military grade equipment. You need to be careful."

The group looked around some more and found several blown up ATMs, more corpses, and a non-activated bomb.

"Sloppy, the only time you would use something like this is if you don't have time to make a plan," said Garrus.

The group continued, heading into a hallway with a door. Shepard checked the logs, seeing that Liara had signed in an hour ago, and hoped she was still alright. The group headed to the door and opened it, heading into the main offices of Barla Foundation. They walked until they heard some sort of noise and they pulled out their weapons.

Shepard heard a tinkering near their feet , looked down, and yelled, "FLASHBANG."

It was too late however, as the grenade exploded at their feet and blinded the group temporarily. They heard gunfire around them but luckily it cleared up soon and the group rushed into cover.

"Vasir, we got well-armed mercs and we're pinned down," said Shepard.

"_Meet the Shadow Broker's private army Shepard_," said Vasir over the comms.

The groups traded bullets for several minutes before a lull allowed Shepard to move in and take out the agents. He switched to incendiary ammo and unloaded on the agents, setting fire to them. The group continued out through the ruins of the former offices taking out agents as they saw them. Garrus took out the agents with his sniper while Tali took out a few with her drone.

"For one of the most powerful men in the galaxy, you'd think his guards would be more intimidating and less meat-shieldy," said Garrus.

"Another in a long list of mediocrity for the Shadow Broker," said Shepard.

The gunfire stopped, as the group took a momentary breath.

"Any more agents," said Shepard.

"I think that was the last one," said Tali, and the group headed for a second staircase to the third level, only to find that it was blocked by flames.

"There should be a maintenance console around here somewhere," said Tali.

Shepard activated the console and heard the sprinklers activate, extinguishing the fires on the stairs. The group headed up and found some more agents, but took them out quickly. The group headed farther into the halls and to another door. The group positioned themselves at the sides of the door and waited for Shepard to signal, until they heard gunshots on the other side and rushed in with weapons ready. They saw an agent slump down to the ground, and Shepard turned and noticed that Liara's contact, Sekat, was dead.

"Damn it, if I had been a few seconds faster, I could've stopped them," said Tela.

"No sign of the data Liara was talking about. Looks like another dead end," said Shepard.

"Well that's a shame, speaking of your friend, did you find her body," said Tela.

"You mean this body," yelled Liara, appearing from the other end of the office and hitting Tela with a biotic push and aiming her SMG at her.

"Liara wait, she's a friend. She's Tela Vasir, a Spectre like me," said Shepard, yet Liara didn't lower her gun.

"This is the woman who tried to kill me, and the woman who killed Nyxeris," said Liara.

"You've had a rough day so I'll let it slide. Why don't you put it down," said Tela.

"I saw you! You doubled back after I left, broke into my apartment," said Liara.

"You didn't know where Liara went, you needed Shepard to find her hidden message," said Tali, joining Liara.

"The picture was bio-encoded to Shepard's DNA, without him you were lost," said Garrus, pointing his gun at Tela as well.

"Once you knew where she was going you signaled the Shadow Broker's forces, and they bombed the building to take her out. Several people are dead because of you," said Shepard, and now all four of them had their guns pointed at the now nervous Asari Spectre.

"And I must thank you for your help to make it all possible," said Tela, still smug.

"I'm guessing she still has the disk on her, she stole it off Sekat's body," said Liara.

Tela pulled the disk out and said, "Good guess, too bad you'll never see what's on it…" hitting the glass with a biotic attack and sending it flying at the group, "…you pureblooded bitch!"

Liara put up a biotic barrier to block the glass and Shepard saw that Tela was trying to escape. He ran out of the barrier and tackled her, knocking them both out of the window. The struggled against each other before eventually Tela's biotics flared up and sent Shepard rocketing towards the ground. Shepard struggled to get up but found it hard to breathe after having the wind knocked out of him.

Tela smirked and walked away before hearing Liara's battlecry and saw her flying out the window and towards the ground. She started to sprint away and Liara followed after her after landing, not even looking back at Shepard. Two guards attempted to stop her, but were quickly stopped by Liara's biotics.

Shepard finally got up and clutched his rib cage, he was pretty sure he had broken one or two ribs. Garrus and Tali came out of the building and helped him fully stand.

"You alright boss," joked Garrus.

"Yeah, just need a minute," said Shepard.

The group saw another door open and several soldiers pile out.

"Run for cover," yelled Shepard.

The group crouched behind some terminals and traded bullets with the agents. Shepard switched to his Geth Plasma shotgun and got up close and personal with the agents. Tali took out a few with her own shotgun and Garrus took out a few people with some well fired concussive shots. The group continued to fight their way through the agents and out of the building and saw Liara and Tela each behind cover trading bullets. Seeing our heroes coming down the stairs, Tela decided it was time to leave and called down her hovercar, which she quickly jumped into and drove away.

"Damn it," cursed Liara, and she went for her own car. She moved to the passenger side and waited for Shepard to get in.

Shepard got into the driver's side and said with a bit of sarcasm in his tone, "I'm fine by the way."

"Garrus get in, Tali, head to the transport docks, Vasir might try to charter a vessel to get off-planet and I need you to stop her if she's does."

"On it," said Tali, and she ran off to get a cab back to the transport docks.

* * *

><p>Garrus got into the back seat and Shepard started driving towards the direction Tela was heading in. Driving quickly, he navigated through the flow of traffic, staying right on her tail. Narrowly avoiding several oncoming cars, Shepard drove through several skyscrapers to keep up with Vasir. The group finally got through the narrow construction site only to deal with several more oncoming cars.<p>

"Traffic! Oncoming Traffic," yelled Liara.

"NO SHIT," yelled back Shepard.

The group breathed a sigh of relief after getting out of the traffic jam, only for Garrus to yell, "PROXIMITY MINES!"

Shepard moved to avoid them, narrowly escaping the force of the explosions. The car continued to travel until they saw rockets explode above a bridge.

"She's got reinforcements," said Liara.

"Does this thing have any guns," said Shepard, referring to the car they were in.

"It's a taxi, it has a fare meter," said Liara.

"Well this is just marvelous," said Garrus.

They saw a truck skidding along the bottom of the tunnel towards them, but Shepard quickly avoided it.

Liara quickly gasped while Shepard just laughed.

"You're enjoying this," asked Liara in a slightly angry tone.

"Very much actually," said Shepard.

The group continued in their car, into another bout of oncoming traffic. They then saw another truck about to crash, but Shepard once again avoided it and managed to pull up to the side of Tela's car. She tried to shake them off by hitting their car, but Shepard fought back with their own, knocking Vasir's car into the direct path of an oncoming car, causing Tela to collide with it and drop rapidly towards one of the buildings. Shepard looked out to the side, and pulled in their car for a landing, on a small landing pad at the same building.

The group got out and looked around before Liara spotted Vasir's car.

"There's her vehicle. Come on, she can't have gotten far," said Liara.

* * *

><p>The group headed towards one of the doors into the hotel, only for the door to be blocked by a transport with Shadow Broker agents. The group headed into cover and opened fire on the agents, quickly taking them out through a combination of Liara's biotics and Garrus's and Shepard's gunfire. Shepard pulled out his Arc Projector and aimed it a huge transport full of agents, firing at and killing a large group of them. He then switched back to M-96 Matlock and took out the rest along with Garrus using his Incisor Sniper Rifle and Liara with her Singularities. Once the agents were fully exterminated, the group headed towards the stairs which led to the wreckage of Vasir's car. Following the blood trail into the hotel room, the group looked around. Following the trail, Shepard walked into the bedroom where a human male and an asari were cowering in a corner. Looking at the large television in the room, he saw an "exotic" video playing.<p>

"Err…what kind of hotel is this exactly," said Shepard to Liara.

"Azure. It's a luxury hotel with an…exotic edge. Azure is slang for a part of the asari body in some areas of Illium," said Liara.

"Where," said Shepard.

"Mainly in the lower reaches, near the bottom," said Liara.

"I think he meant where on the asari body," said Garrus.

"So did I," said Liara with a wry smile.

"Ooookay," said Garrus, "I think the blood trail heads out from here."

The group continued to follow the blood trail towards some unknown location.

"She's lost a lot of blood, we must be getting close," said Liara.

"She's certainly tough, I'll give her that," said Garrus.

"It's to be expected from a Spectre," said Shepard.

The group headed through another room and continued following the trail which eventually led out to a balcony.

Shepard looked out and saw Vasir walking towards a large group of people at a restaurant, clutching her side which was bleeding profusely.

"Shepard, there she is," said Liara.

"Wait, is that Desmond and Lia," said Garrus, pointing towards two people heading towards Vasir, which sure enough was their resident Cryonic Man and his constant companion.

"Oh crap," said Shepard, who vaulted over the balcony wall and broke out into a sprint towards them.

"John, Lia, get away from her," yelled Shepard.

"Idiots," said Vasir, before sending John flying and grabbing Lia, pointing a pistol towards her head.

"I should have known you people weren't too far behind," said Vasir.

"Let the woman go Vasir," said Shepard, shortly joined by Garrus and Liara.

"Why, she's a quarian, who honestly could care about her," said Vasir.

Shepard grew extremely angry, and let it show with his teeth bared.

"I said, let her go," he said.

"Please don't kill me," said Lia,

"Put down your thermal clips and power cells or the quarian dies," said Vasir.

"You don't want to do this," said Garrus.

"Put them down," said Vasir, jamming her pistol further into Lia's head plate.

Shepard found himself in a difficult situation. He couldn't fire a shot at Vasir for risk of hitting Lia, but if he put down his thermal clips, there was no guarantee Vasir would let her go. As Shepard was having this conflict, saw a small combat drone appear behind Vasir.

"HEY TENTACLEHEAD," the drone seemed to yell.

"You want to die too huh," said Vasir, pointing her pistol towards the source of the noise, before realizing she had been tricked.

"NOW," yelled the drone and Liara picked up a table with her biotics and slammed it into Vasir, knocking Lia away from Vasir.

While a little angry, Shepard was nonetheless grateful for Liara getting Lia out of harm's way. Now however they had to deal with a very pissed off asari Spectre, who got out of the fountain she was blasted into and flared her biotics. Shepard and company opened fired as best they could on her, but it was made difficult by Vasir teleporting all over the place. As soon as they broke through her barrier however, she disappeared. Shepard saw several rocket drones and some more of the Shadow Broker's goons heading their way.

Taking out his Arc Generator, he made short work of the rocket drones, leaving Garrus and Liara to take out the rest of the grunts. Angered at having her help utterly destroyed, Vasir jumped down and attacked the trio yet again. Forced to take cover from her biotic barrage Vasir threw their way, Shepard switched back to his Matlock and switched to Incendiary ammo. Unloading a clip into Vasir, he was surprised when she teleported to the other side of the fountain and sent a biotic shockwave towards him.

Caught unprepared he was sent back several feet though his kinetic barrier stayed up at least. He continued his assault until he saw Vasir's armor was down to severely low fraction of what it was. However before he could finish her off, she teleported off to the roof again, leaving Shepard and company to deal with another wave of rocket drones and the Shadow Broker's goons. Making short work of them Vasir came down once again for a final assault.

Shepard took cover to protect himself from Vasir's biotic shockwaves, popping out occasionally to take off some more of her armor. Severely angered, Vasir teleported behind Shepard and hit him with a full force shockwave, knocking him into the fountain and destroying his kinetic barriers. Shepard pulled himself up and out of the fountain, taking cover nearby to let his shields recharge. What he didn't notice however is that Vasir had disappeared and reappeared behind him, readying to strike a killing blow.

Seeing what was about to happen, and despite having no shields himself, Garrus sprinted to Shepard's position and pushed him out of the way, taking the force of the blast. It propelled him into one of the columns of the restaurant, knocking him unconscious.

"Garrus," yelled Shepard, before turning his full attention back to Vasir.

He unloaded one final clip into Vasir, and broke off into a sprint towards her. Liara's Warp took out the last of her armor and Shepard took full advantage of that. He fired several more shots at her, causing Vasir to catch on fire, and then Liara threw down a singularity sending her into the air. Shepard followed up with a concussive shot sending her flying before Liara slammed her down to the ground with a very high amount of force with her biotics, knocking the wind out of Vasir and shattering several of her bones.

"Shit, Shit, Shit, Shit," Vasir said over and over, coughing up blood.

Liara walked over and pulled out the data disk from Vasir's person. Shepard ran back to her after making sure Garrus was alright and applying some medi-gel.

Liara pulled up her omni-tool and scanned the disk, and said, "Sekat's personal datapad, everything we need to find the Shadow Broker is right here."

Vasir let out a chuckle and said, "You're dead, you all are. The Shadow Broker has been in power for decades, he's stronger than anything you've ever faced."

"I've faced a Reaper Vasir, the Shadow Broker is a mere spider compared to that," said Liara.

"Is that why you betrayed the Council," said Shepard.

"You think I betrayed them, like Saren? Go to hell!" yelled Vasir, coughing up more blood, "The Broker's given me damn good intel over the years. Intel that saved lives and kept the Citadel safe. Even you used his help to find your team, or did you forget Barla Von?"

"If the Broker wants a few people to disappear, I'll pay that price without hesitation," said Vasir.

"Spectres don't blow up buildings with innocent civilians," said Shepard.

"Like the Council cares. They might complain about our methods to soothe their consciences but they never look too closely. Besides, you're with Cerberus. Do you have any idea what your terrorist friends have done," said Vasir.

"Sending whole platoons into thresher maw nests just to see what happens, creating a whole town full of husks just to see what would happen, incompetently sending thorian creepers throughout the galaxy and locking a high ranking Alliance official in a cage with Rachni just to see what would happen, and finally keeping an Alliance corporal locked in a cell and experimenting on him just to see what would happen. I've seen what Cerberus has done and more, but it doesn't matter," said Shepard.

"I think it does, they've done so much more than you know, like kidnapping kids for biotic death camps, and blowing up quarian liveships just to find one man. And you're with them, so don't you dare judge me. Don't you dare…," said Vasir, falling to the ground dead.

Shepard simply shook his head and turned around, seeing John and Lia coming out of their makeshift cover.

* * *

><p><em>Returning to the present<em>

Shepard went over the events several times in his head, trying to figure out how he could have prevented this. Ultimately though, he gave up, and left John's room.

He saw Liara in the hall, listening to some recording of the Shadow Broker.

"_Eliminate T'Soni and retrieve the data. Civilian casualties are not a concern_," said the Shadow Broker on the recording.

"I've forwarded the data to the Normandy's computers, if we leave now we can be at the Shadow Broker's base in a few hours," said Liara.

"Nice to see you have your priorities straight," said Shepard.

"Garrus will be fine, and we have to hurry. He'll find out about Vasir before long, and if he decides to kill Feron…" said Liara.

"We'll get him out alive, I promise," interrupted Shepard.

"I know. You're here to help, just like always," said Liara.

"Is that a problem," said Shepard.

"When we first met on Therum, you saved me from the geth, fought a Krogan battlemaster while I cowered in fear. And now once again I'm still leaning on you for help," said Liara.

Tali joined them, having come by to check on John and Garrus after receiving a message on her Omni-tool.

"He's your friend Liara, and that's what friends do," said Tali.

"Shepard, I'm not asking you to trust me or like my new attitude, all I want is your help saving Feron. I need your help, and I need the Normandy since its stealth drives are the only thing that can help me get in undetected. The Shadow Broker's agents are still shooting their way through Illium. With luck, they won't notice we're gone until it's too late," said Liara.

"That's cold Liara, they killed innocent people," said Tali.

"You know what I mean," said Liara.

"Do I? When I hit the ground back at the trade center, you went after Vasir without a single look back," said Shepard.

"A little fall wasn't going to kill you, I had to keep going after Vasir. I had to stay rational, make the call, like I did with Sekat," said Liara.

"That was Vasir's fault, not yours," said Shepard.

"Was it? Sekat didn't know the stakes, I put him in harm's way to get the data. I got him killed, and I'd do it again," said Liara, "But from here on it, things will be simple, go in, get Feron, and get out. And kill anything that tries to stop us."

"That's it," said Shepard.

"That's it," said Liara, and she got up to leave.

"We're not done here. You haven't been the same since I've come back. What I'm concerned with is that you've become cold and cynical, that you're turning into the very thing you are hunting," said Shepard.

"What do you want me to say, that I mourned you, that I feel guilty it was my fault Feron got captured? I made mistakes, I lost people, I helped you come back, and I want to do the same for Feron. I'll sit down and talk more when he's safe. Until then, sitting around and talking is an insult to the man who saved both of our lives. What I want to know, is will you help me save him," said Liara.

Shepard stood there for a moment deep in thought, then turned to Tali for guidance on the matter.

"Go help her, I can keep an eye on John and Garrus for a while," said Tali.

Shepard smiled at her, then brought up his Omni-tool and said, "Joker, are there still enough crew members on board to make a small trip in the Normandy?"

"_We should have plenty enough I believe Commander_," said Joker.

"Good, we're coming back. Set a course for the system in the data Liara just uploaded," said Shepard.

"_On it Commander_," said Joker.

"Thank you Shepard," said Liara.

* * *

><p><em>Several hours later<em>

The shuttle deployed from the cargo bay, and headed down to the storms of Hagalaz.

"Thanks for coming Mordin," said Shepard.

"Happy to help, nice to take break from studying cultures for most likely suicidal endeavor. Will enjoy seeing Shadow Broker ship, liked technology seen from data studied. Would enjoy meeting man behind name as well, Broker's reputation legendary in STG (deep breath) though a bit unsavory," said Mordin.

Liara looked out the window of the shuttle and said, "Hagalaz, the oceans boil during the day and snap freeze ten minutes after sundown."

"How does the Shadow Broker live in this," said Shepard.

"The Shadow Broker's ship follows the sunset, completely undetectable," said Liara.

"Unless you know where to look," said Mordin.

"How do we get inside," asked Shepard.

"The shuttle bay is locked down, we'll have to land on the ship and hunt for a hatch. We can't stay outside for long though, there's a constant lightning storm where hot and cold air collide" said Liara.

"Well I don't see how this could possibly go wrong," said Shepard sarcastically.

Shepard put on his helmet and Mordin and Liara put on their breathers and the group got out onto the ship as the shuttle touched down.

"It's hard to pinpoint in this lightning," said Liara, "There's nothing below but maintenance equipment. We have to find an entrance near the back shielding."

The group continued along the ship until a couple maintenance drones came out and attacked them, but were quickly dispatched.

"They must think we're debris from the storm," said Liara, commenting on the drones.

Shepard and company continued until Shepard came near what looked like 2 small generators, which Shepard flinched at when he saw some lightning bolts strike them, causing one the sides to light up with energy.

"Careful those capacitors discharge lightning," said Liara.

Then the group heard gunfire and saw a group of thugs firing at them. Thinking on his feet, Mordin pulled out his pistol and fired at the capacitors causing them to discharge the lightning stored in them, frying the soldiers.

"Nice," said Shepard.

"Indeed," said Mordin.

"Come on," said Liara, and the group continued across and down a small ramp and along another side of the ship. A group of LOKIs popped up out of the lower decks but they were dispatched by the group as quickly as they came. Continuing forward they saw a group of goons and another capacitor. Shepard fired at it and took out the shields of the nearby soldiers. Mordin hit them with a cryo blast and Shepard finished them off with his Matlock, and the group continued towards a small terminal with a capsule pipe.

Shepard twisted the capsule and pulled up, causing one of the armored shields to retract into the ship, revealing another path, as well as more of the Shadow Broker's agents. Taking out his Arc Reactor, Shepard hit them with a serious shock, paralyzing the majority, leaving them ripe for an Incineration blast from Mordin.

This routine continued for some time. Shepard and company would fight drones or agents in groups until they reached each capsule pipe, revealing the path ahead. The routine continued until eventually they found a path which led through what looked like some sort of reroute system.

"No guardrails? I bet the Broker's agents love patrolling the hull," said Shepard.

"View at least cosmetically beautiful," said Mordin.

The group continued until they were led to what appeared to be a courtyard, with a door at the end.

"This hatch leads directly to the communication signals," said Liara.

Shepard attempted to open it but found that, "It's locked tight."

"Hang on, I have a bypass shunt program that should get us through," said Liara, and she moved to set it up.

"I said it once and I'll say it again, I miss the days when you could just slap Omni-gel on to everything," said Shepard.

"That was certainly a security upgrade that made a lot of people angry," said Liara.

"How long will it take," said Shepard.

"I don't know, I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before. At least, not this one," said Liara, "We just have to hold out for as long as it takes."

"You're sure it will work," said Shepard.

"It's an illegal program, even on Illium," said Liara, as a group of soldier came out.

The group rushed into cover and Shepard said, "But you tested it right?"

"Here come more of them," said Liara, trying to avoid the question.

"Please tell me you tested it," said Shepard, taking out another group.

"No time to talk," said Liara, laying down a Singularity near another group.

Mordin and Liara aimed at the capacitors, causing them to discharge and leaving them open for Shepard to take down with bullets or Mordin with tech attacks.

"Rocket drones, front of the ship," said Liara and Shepard pulled out his Arc Reactor and took out easily.

"Their attacks are disorganized, they would be more effective if they attacked at once," said Liara.

"Giving mercenaries tactical advice not smart idea," said Mordin.

"Sorry," said Liara.

"How much longer," said Shepard.

"I'm sure not much longer," said Liara.

"Large wave of enemies heading our way," said Mordin.

"You had to give the mercs ideas," said Shepard.

"On the bright side, there will be less of them to deal with once we're inside," said Liara, laughing sheepishly.

"Keep dreaming T'Soni," said Shepard.

Soldiers surrounded them and fired from all sides. Despite the fact they were inflicting casualties, Shepard knew they needed to inflict more, and fast, before there was no way out. He fired the last of thermal clip in his rifle and switched to his geth plasma shotgun. Liara began trying to pull enemies out of cover with her biotics and noticed something. The soldiers she lifted were sucked up and pulled towards the front of the ship by the storm, before being disintegrated by the lightning. She quickly repeated the actions with the other mercs, with Shepard and Mordin taking out the stragglers.

Finally, the program chimed, signifying that it was finally ready, and the team ran inside and took off their helmets and breathers. They walked into a small corridor and heard the patter of feet, and went for cover. They saw an engineer and a few other soldiers appear but were quickly surprised by Shepard and the others. They continued through the hallways, taking out mercs as they went. Eventually they got to a locked door, which Shepard quickly hacked through and the group continued inside.

"Feron," Liara said, seeing her friend in some sort of restraint system.

"L-Liara," said Feron weakly.

"Hang on, we'll get you out of there," said Liara running towards a console.

"N-No," said Feron, as Liara fiddled with the console, inadvertedly setting off a shock which made Feron cry out in pain.

"What the hell is the Broker trying to do to you," said Shepard.

"The equipment is sensitive to tampering, the chair is plugged in to the Broker's infonet network. You have to shut off the power, try to pull me out now and my brain cooks," said Feron.

"Do you know where we can do that," said Liara.

"It won't be easy, you'll have to go to Central Operations," said Feron.

"Why are you in a cage," asked Shepard.

"I don't..," Feron tried to say, before being shocked again.

"It's a neural grounding rod, meant to make sure he doesn't…expire," said Liara.

"If the Broker left you alive for us to find, he obviously has no idea how dangerous you are," said Shepard.

"Don't underestimate him," said Feron, "He prepares for everything. Central Operations is down the hall, but you know he'll be there waiting for you."

"I'm counting on it," said Liara, "We'll be back for you."

"I'll try not to go anywhere," said Feron sarcastically.

"I want all teams to Outpost C," said The Shadow Broker over the intercom, and the team saw a large amount of mercs flood out of nowhere.

Shepard and the group hit them first, surprising them, and ultimately taking them down. The group headed through another door at the other end of the hall and through another corridor taking out the one merc who stood in their way.

* * *

><p>The group readied there weapons after Shepard picked up some last minute thermal clips. They opened another door and ran through.<p>

There, sitting at a desk covered in computer screens, was an alien with red skin bigger than a krogan, with horns, ten eyes and a mouth with three corners.

"Here for the drell," said the Shadow Broker, "Reckless, even for you Commander."

"Not reckless, determined," said Shepard, "Ask your asari Spectre about that."

"Vasir was expendable, as was Nyxeris. All you cost me was time," said The Shadow Broker.

"Expendable like Feron," said Liara.

"Your interference caused all this T'Soni," said the Broker, "Feron betrayed me when he gave you Shepard's body. The drell is simply paying the price."

"Someone was bound to come after you for working with the Collectors," said Shepard.

"It was a mutually beneficial partnership, and your arrival is convenient. The Collectors offer still stands," said the Broker, "Enough with the talk, my operations are too crucial to be compromised by a traitor."

"Quite confident for someone with nowhere to run or hide," said Mordin.

The Broker turned towards Mordin and said, "You travel with interesting companions Doctor (heh DW humor, unintentional I'm sure). Krogan pay well for former Special Task Group Members, especially those who worked on a certain project."

"Mordin, what is he talking about," said Shepard.

"Not important," said Mordin, somewhat nervous.

"Doctor Solus was part of the STG project which created the new strain of the genophage," said the Broker.

"You did what, you said you were just studying the growth of the Krogan population" Shepard sortof yelled.

"Genophage weakened over generations, Krogan population swelled, war inevitable, all options considered by team. Not important right now," said Mordin.

"You're not taking anyone else," said Liara.

"It's pointless to challenge me. I know all your secrets while you fumble in the dark," said the Broker.

"Is that right," said Liara, "You're a yahg, a pre-spaceflight species quarantined to their homeworld after slaughtering the Council's first contact teams. This base is older than your planet's discovery, which means you probably killed the original Shadow Broker 60 years ago then took over. I'm guessing you were taken from your planet by a trophy hunter as a slave or a pet. How am I doing so far?"

The Broker got up, clearly angered, and slammed his fist into his desk. He threw the parts of his desk at the group, missing Shepard and Liara but catching Mordin by surprise knocking him out.

"Mordin," yelled Shepard, but couldn't move to examine him at the moment as he had the Broker to deal with.

The Broker let out a large roar, and Shepard and Liara ran for cover. Shepard let loose with his Matlock, taking out the Broker's shields with ease, then worked on his armor with the help of Liara's Warp. Before long, the Broker staggered, but glared even more and let some sort of barrier activate around him from the machine on the ceiling. Shepard and Liara fired at it, but all it did was reflect off the barrier.

"The shields are kinetically sensitive, energy and projectiles are just bouncing off," said Liara.

Shepard cracked his knuckles and said, "Then I guess we do this the hard way."

He sprinted towards the Broker, hitting him and destroying the barrier. He punched the Broker, which staggered him slightly. He continued his barrage until the Broker activated his Omni-tool and brought up a large shield, uppercutting Shepard with it and knocking him back.

Shepard fired his Matlock but it did nothing against the shield so he pulled out his sniper rifle and let Adrenaline rush through him, firing at the exposed parts of the Broker. Before long, the Broker once again activated the ceiling shield.

Shepard rushed him again, successfully getting in a punch but was soon once again hit by the Omni-shield, knocking him into Liara.

Looking up at the machine on the ceiling, Liara said, "If you can get him to activate that shield again, I have a plan."

Shepard nodded and once again repeated the pattern of firing at the exposed areas of the Broker with his Sniper Rifle. Before long, once again the Broker activated the shield, and Shepard charged again hitting the Broker and knocking out the shield. The Broker was knocked back by the hit again, and let out a roar. The two charged at each other and just as the Broker was about to uppercut Shepard with his Omni-shield, Shepard rolled under it and yelled, "Liara now!"

Liara threw up a biotic pull towards the ceiling shield maker, causing it to crack. Liara then pulled down with all her strength, causing the generator to break and cover the Broker with energy. The Broker began to disintegrate but not give up. He attempted to charge T'Soni, but couldn't move. The Broker let out a final roar, but was too late and completely disintegrated.

Shepard was blown back but was quickly helped up by Liara. Mordin started to get up, and Shepard moved to help him up.

"You alright," said Shepard.

"Quite fine, slight headache and some bruised ribs but other than that completely fine," said Mordin.

The group saw the power shut off and then reset. The large terminal then began to be flooded with voices.

"_Shadow Broker, this is Operative Mourat. We had a momentary connection failure, can you confirm status_."

"_Operative Shoro requesting update_, _are we still online_?"

"_Shadow Broker, I lost our feed. Awaiting instructions_."

The voices then began to overwhelm each other growing louder and louder.

Liara became scared slightly, but then lowered her head and looked up again, and walked towards the console.

"_This is the Shadow Broker, the situation is under control. We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware. It disrupted communications momentarily_."

Shepard saw Feron run in brandishing his pistol, but saw shock replace the expression on his face."

"However, we are now back online. Resume standard procedures, I want a full status report by the end of the day. Shadow Broker out," said Liara.

"Goddess of Oceans, it's you," said Feron, "You…how?"

"Well, everyone who has seen the Broker in person besides us are dead. So…," said Liara.

"So, you're the new Shadow Broker," said Feron.

"Are you sure you want this," said Shepard, concerned.

Liara turned back to the terminal and said, "I'm not sure about any of this, but I know I want it. With this information network I can give you…I can," Liara struggled to say.

"I-I'll go check on the power systems," said Feron.

"I'll go help," said Mordin, and the two left the room.

Shepard heard Liara begin to sob and saw tears coming from her eyes. He moved towards her and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to turn around.

"It's over, It's finally over after two years," said Liara, and felt Shepard's arms encircle her. She returned the hug warmly.

"It's alright," said Shepard.

She broke the hug and wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "I spent two years mourning you and Feron, and now I have you both back. I…let's see what we got."

She moved back to the terminal and said, "No safeguards, no user locks, it's like the Broker never expected anyone but himself being here. And it's all ours now."

"Are you sure you want this, you could rejoin us, the Normandy could sure use its resident archaeologist," said Shepard.

"As much as I would like to, I can't. Besides, I'll be more helpful here anyway. With this network, I'll be able to help you from the sidelines," said Liara.

"Don't be a stranger," said Shepard, smiling at her.

"I won't, be sure to visit if you get the chance. The doors will always be open," said Liara.

"Maybe you can visit the Normandy the next time I come by, see how everyone is doing. Now I have to go get Mordin and head back to Illium, see if John and Garrus have recovered."

"Goodbye Shepard, for now," said Liara.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime in the future<em>

Shepard stood in his cabin pouring drinks, before Liara came in holding a datapad.

"Did you enjoy the tour," said Shepard.

"Yes it's a beautiful ship, I even ran into Joker. He seemed to be happy to see me, although he did ask if I "embraced eternity" lately," said Liara.

Shepard sighed and said, "Of course he did."

"I also talked with Doctor Chakwas, she seemed to be doing rather well," said Liara, "Here I brought you something. It took some digging but…I recovered your tags."

"I thought I'd never see these again," said Shepard.

"They changed hands more than once, do you remember Admiral Hackett," said Liara, "He gave them to me so I could bring them to you. He sends his best and hopes you're okay. So how are you doing Shepard, really? Not what you tell your squad to keep moral up."

"Honestly, I have no idea how we'll do this. I'm doing everything I can but…," said Shepard.

"You've done more than most, you and your team are fighting the Collectors with everything you have," said Liara.

"I hope we can do this," said Shepard.

"Tell me Shepard, what are you fighting for? A chance to give Tali a homeworld," said Liara.

"Tali is very important to me," said Shepard.

"And she's been awestruck with you since she came onto the Normandy two years ago," said Liara.

"You could've told me," said Shepard with a smile.

"Perhaps it was because I didn't want to add to the competition, or perhaps I didn't want to spoil the fun of you finding out for yourself," joked Liara, "I hope you two will be happy, she really needs someone like you in your life like your engineer John and that girl Lia."

"I should be heading back," said Liara, "Thanks for inviting me for the tour."

Shepard pulled her into a hug and watched her leave and said, "Yeah, come back soon."

* * *

><p>Man it's hard to write a car chase scene.<p>

Thanks to all y'all for reading and favoriting and reviewing and what not. My other fics will be put on indefinite hiatus while I focus on finishing this one. After that, here's the following fics that will be worked on.

-Mass Effect: Investigation

-Love Hina: Living in the Material World

-Naruto: The Demon and the Animal

-X-Men First Class: Mimicry

-The MassShank Redemption (Essentially The Shawshank Redemption but set in the Mass Effect Universe)

-Law and Order SVU: Poetic Justice

-Law and Order SVU: The Return of Merritt Rook

-Mass Effect: Outbreak (Mass Effect/The Walking Dead: The Game)

-Dragon Effect (Mass Effect/Dragon Age)

As well as my other two fics.

And finally, as a world announcement, the title for the sequel to this fic

-Rise of the Specter- A ME3 Story (no that is not a misspelling)

**Announcement #2**

There are only a few more chapters until The Suicide Mission, therefore only a few of the loyalty missions will be shown. Give me a review telling me the ones you want to see.

My Personal Picks

Garrus: An Eye for an Eye

Tali: Treason

Mordin: Old Blood

Legion: A House Divided

Also a few others, maybe Arrival, Overlord, and the Derelict Reaper, oh and the Collector Ship

**Announcement #3**

No one has given me any word about the new policy regarding lemons, so therefore I'll just go with a new idea. I'm separate the love scenes therefore anyone who doesn't want to read the lemon can skip over it completely.

Last but not least

**HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!**

_Next Chapter_: Prejudices and Confessions Pt.2

* * *

><p><strong>Peace in the Middle East, from gale1243<strong>


	13. Chapter 8: Prejudices and Confessions 2

**The Cryonic Man****  
><strong>Chapter 8: Prejudices and Confessions Part 2

A bit of foreword

This is my first story so please no flames.  
>I do not claim ownership to the rights to Mass Effect or its characters (sadly only Bioware and EA can claim that).<br>I do however claim ownership of the characters I create

A reviewer asked me why I haven't done a chapter about John for a while. Simple answer, I now understand why most OC stories have the characters be inherently Ubermensch (I think I'm using that correctly). It's because writing an emotional story about a regular guy is not as fun as writing an overpowered self-insert story, not that I'm going to start doing that. I guess I enjoy writing action scenes so much and I know how to advance the plot with subtle divergences here and there, but after writing 12 chapters, I find myself running out of ideas as to where to go with all of this.

I find myself with a thousand and one ideas of how to diverge the story of Mass Effect 3 but very little for Mass Effect 2. Stuff like (**spoiler warning)** why Cerberus never used the cloning facilities they used to create another Shepard after using it once? So as such I'm scrapping doing chapters on most of the loyalty missions and just focusing on the 3 most important in my mind, a chapter to introduce Legion which might focus on John a bit more and an argument he has with Lia, and then the finale to finish this story of with a bang hopefully.

On that note, let's get started

* * *

><p>"AHHHHHHHHHH," John screamed, jumping out of his bed before noticing something was off.<p>

He was back in his apartment, in New York, back in the 21st century.

"What a strange dream," said John, "I dreamt I was in the future, and on this ship, the Normandy. And there was aliens, and robots, and AIs, and the Citadel, Illium. And…Lia."

John momentarily stopped pacing and talking to himself.

"But, was it a dream? No, it couldn't have been, I remember everything. It was so real, I remember working in the engine room with Kenneth and Gabby, I remember the the Council, I remember the restaurant, the pain of being shot in the chest, Lia confessed to being me. It can't be a dream, it just can't have," said John.

He lifted up his shirt and looked at himself in the mirror, but try as he might he didn't find any marks, no evidence that what had happened had been real.

"No, no, no, no," yelled John, banging his head against the wall as tears poked at his eyes, "No, it had to be real, it can't have been fake. Lia, I needed to tell her, I needed…I needed…"

He couldn't even finish his sentence, unable to accept that this was reality, that where he was now was real and everything he had gone through was a figment of his imagination. He decided to head out of his apartment and find something that proved this wasn't real.

He ran out of his apartment, not even looking up and kept running through the streets before finally stopping to take a breath, leaning against a stop sign. As he caught his breath he noticed something was odd once more. He heard no noise, no traffic, cars, bikes, or people. He fully looked around and realized, there was no one, not a single soul around.

"Where is everyone," John wondered aloud. The shops around the district were filled with light and yet they had no employees or customers. The cars along the street moved along the roadways, but without people driving them.

He grabbed a bike that was nearby and pedaled to the one place he thought to seek out. A singular Starbucks on a block filled with many, where he knew his friend Zevran worked. Yet, when he reached it, the lights were on and the doors were unlocked, but there was no one inside. John then took a closer look and headed inside. He saw something odd, cups lining up and a machine dispensing coffee and yet had no operator. To the right, on a counter, was hundreds of cups filled with coffee yet no costumers to drink them.

"What the hell is going on," John said and then exclaimed, "That's it, that's how this isn't real. Back in New York, machines operating on their own, no people. This absolutely must be a dream, I just have to wake up."

He then closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he possibly could, and then opened his eyes. He was disappointed as he saw the sights of the coffee shop still around.

"Okay, I'll just try harder," said John, and tried again, and again, and again. It didn't work, nothing worked.

He then grabbed one of the cups of coffee and threw it at his face, only to yell loudly in pain.

"Still hot, still hot, still hot, still hot," he yelled over and over, and then ran to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face and washed off the coffee which lucky for him wasn't hot enough to cause any severe burns.

Once everything was situated, he took some time to look in the bathroom mirror.

"Why can't I wake up," he wondered.

* * *

><p><em>3 days later<em>

"How's the patient nurse," the asari doctor said, walking into the room.

"Fine, aside from a small spike in blood pressure a few hours ago just fine. And how many times do I have to tell you, I'm not a nurse, just a doctor's assistant," said the salarian nurse, er "doctor's assistant".

"When your job description doesn't include changing bedpans you can call yourself whatever you want. Any visitors?" said the doctor.

"No, just those two humans who come by every day, however there was an _ahem _questionable character that tried to come in a few hours afterwards, but I had to turn her away," said the nurse.

"Why would you do that, visiting hours don't end for another few hours?" said the doctor.

"Well…there was concern that her relationship with the patient was suspect, so I didn't let her in," said the nurse.

The doctor looked up from her charts and narrowed her eyes at the nurse, "If it was that quarian girl that was here when the patient was first brought in, and you turned her away, I will have you reported."

The nurse looked up and exclaimed, "You can't do that!"

"If there is concern that your prejudices will get in the way of your duties, then yes I can. If the girl is still out there, you better let her in, do you understand me," the doctor said, with a look that made the nurse tremble in fear.

"Y-Yes sir, er ma'am, er doctor," said the nurse, quickly exiting the room.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile, back in John's head<em>

John felt like he was going insane, minutes felt like hours, hours felt like days. He had tried every technique he could to wake up, nothing worked.

Running all over New York was the only thing keeping him sane. Clouds covered the sky at every moment, no night or day, despite the clocks all over showing the passage of time. Currently, he was sitting on the bank of some creek, trying to figure out what he was going to do next. It had felt like days since he had first woken up in New York. He didn't need to sleep, eat, drink, or anything else, only exist. It frustrated him to no end, having nothing to do but skip rocks across the creek. God he was bored. He slumped down and laid his arms across his knees after a while and then just shook his head.

"What's the point anymore, it's been days, weeks, months, hell I don't know. I'll be stuck here forever, hell it feels like it's been forever since I got here," said John, "It's just hopeless."

Whilst wallowing in his sorrow, he didn't notice the clouds overhead starting to break up. It was only after he saw the creek begin to almost shine from the reflection of the sun did he finally look up and noticed the clouds gone and the sun fully shone brightly. He then heard a soft voice.

_John_

"Wha? Where is that coming from," said John.

The voice began growing louder, so much so that John almost recognized it.

_John_

'"Lia," John questioned to the sky.

_I love you, you idiot_

He could almost hear her sadness. He frantically looked around but couldn't see her.

"Lia, where are you," yelled John, before looking at the sun again, seeing a beam of light pointed at one of the skyscrapers in town. He began running towards it, hearing Lia's voice grow louder in his ears.

_John_

John finally reached the building, and he saw her. Standing atop the roof with her arms wrapped around herself, was Lia, singing into the wind.

_Please come back to me_

"I'm coming Lia, I'm almost there," John yelled, running inside and running for the staircase.

"I'm almost there, hang on" said John, almost reaching the top.

"Lia, Lia, I'm…here," said John bursting through the door to the roof, only finding that there was nothing there. His hopes raised and quickly dashed was almost too much for him, and he collapsed on the ground.

"I know she was here, I heard her, I saw her, she was here," said John becoming angry yet again.

He picked up a rock laying on one of the vents on the roof and chucking it as hard as he could before collapsing to the ground.

"I heard her voice, she had to have been here. Or maybe I'm just going mad. Wait that can't be true because I'm still sane enough to know it."

He sat there not knowing what to do yet again, before noticing something off again. He looked up to the sky and saw that not only was the sun gone, but now the sky was even darker. There was a wind whipping around him that was slowly getting stronger with time.

He heard a loud crash and saw the buildings around him beginning to collapse around him. He ran up to the edge of the roof and looked down, seeing nothing but an endless abyss below him. He quickly backed away from the edge, only to feel the ground below him start to shake. He then noticed that the parts of the building behind him were starting to fall into the abyss below. He ran away from the crumbling parts of the structure only to find there was nothing left but the edge of the roof.

"What do I do, What do I do, what the hell do I do," yelled John.

"_Jump"_ was the only option he could think of

"Not like I have very many options," said John, and he got up on the edge of the roof.

"_Okay, don't look down. You'll get scared if you look down, so don't look down_," thought John over and over…before looking down, "_At least my bowel function has returned, and at the worst possible time_."

"Holy crap this is high. Well, now or never I guess," said John before closing his eyes, jumping off the roof and falling into the abyss below. He opened his eyes and saw the debris of the buildings around him. He looked downwards and saw nothing but darkness below, feeling it encroach all over him again.

* * *

><p>Dark, everything around him was just dark. He didn't understand what was going on, but he could hear sounds all around. The sounds were getting louder too, building to some kind of crescendo. Then all of a sudden the sound stopped. He became confused, "<em>What's going on<em>?" he wondered.

He realized he was once again somewhere else, this time something far more alien. The light around him grew to reveal a desolate wasteland, some sort of ruin.

He tried to walk but his legs refused to move. He saw movement in the distance of what looked to be a young alien child. None of the archives he had glossed over accurately described what race this child was. He looked similar in build to an asari, but male and with a light bluish-green skin color. That couldn't be right, asari were a mono gendered race he thought before seeing what looked like a mob running after the child.

They were traditional looking asari but far from the ones he had known. These asari looked feral, savage even, and were carrying spears and chanting something he could not understand. The young asari-like boy ran into his arms and cried as he held him. From what little he could make out the boy was calling out something similar to, "Father, please help." Unknowingly John's hands raised up and fired off a large biotic pulse towards the mob. John felt control leave him once more as his body led the boy towards a large pillar-like structure. "There is where we will be safe," he felt his mouth say.

John felt himself starting to run toward the tower but the mob was once again upon them as they took the boy once more. John was forced to watch as the mob of asari killed the boy chanting something that sounded like the pureblood must die. Reluctantly John left the sounds of screaming behind him and ran into the tower. The door shut behind him and once more he felt his vision cut to black.

* * *

><p>"AHHHHHHHHHHH," yelled John, siting up in his bed, "Owwwwww," clutching his chest.<p>

"Wait, tubes covering me, marks from the heat of the bullets on my chest, a view of Illium out the window. I'm in the hospital, in the future, and I'm alive," said John, "And my chest is completely on fire."

"Well, nice to see you're back in the land of the living," said the doctor, "You gave everyone quite the scare."

"Yeah. Wait, how long was I out," asked John.

"About a total of 3 days," said the doctor, "Your body went through quite the shock, not to mention having to adjust to the new implant."

"3 days…wait IMPLANT," said John.

"Yes, we had to place a new type of medical implant in one of your lungs in order to keep them working. You also lost a significant amount of blood. You're lucky to have recovered as fast as you did. Now then, you have a few people here waiting to see you," said the doctor.

"Lad, you're alright," said Kenneth, pulling him into a hug, causing John to yelp.

"I may be alive Kenneth but I'm still hurting from the bullets in my chest, can you please let go of me," said John through gritted teeth.

Kenneth let go of him and apologized, but now before Gabby smacked him in the head.

"Nice to see you're alright too John," said Gabby.

"Thanks guys," said John, giving them a smile, "Hey where's Lia?"

Kenneth and Gabby both turned their gaze away from his eyes, "Uh lad, no one has seen Lia since you were sedated by those nurses."

"But…wait, I could have sworn I had heard her earlier, are you sure she's not here with you guys?"

"It probably was you just dreaming John, Lia hasn't been here in 3 days," said Gabby.

The doctor then coughed and said, "Well, there was a quarian girl in here earlier. About a few hours before you two showed up," referring to Kenneth and Gabby.

"Are you sure it wasn't just Miss Zorah," said Kenneth.

"No, I believe her name was Vael something," said the doctor.

"Do you know where she went?" said John.

"No, I'm sorry I can't be more help," said the doctor.

"Well I'm going to find her," said John, getting up and ripping the tubes out of the various parts of his body and getting up to leave.

"Lad, I'm not sure that's such a good idea," said Kenneth, "You should stay and recover some more."

John winced slightly after getting up from the bed, "I spent three days in a medically induced coma thanks to the ineptitude of some of the nurses here, I'm not staying here another goddamn minute."

He pulled on some of the clothes that were left at his bedside, wincing slightly, but determined and he quickly left the building.

Gabby sighed at John's complete stubbornness but let him go.

"Anything else we need to know doctor," said Gabby.

"Yes, there are some schematics I need to give to your ship's medical officer. Make sure you run diagnostics every other week, and there shouldn't be any problems," said the doctor.

Gabby and Kenneth left the hospital and found John passed out on the ground.

"God my chest hurts," said John, muffled by the ground.

"Are you going to head back inside now," said Gabby.

"I would rather stick my arm in a dry blender than go back in there," said John, struggling to stand up.

"At least go back to the ship so that Tali and Doctor Chakwas can calibrate your implant," said Gabby.

"When I find Lia, I'll go back," said John, before clutching his chest again, "On painful retrospection, ship first then find Lia."

* * *

><p><em>Sometime Later<em>

"And that about finishes that up," said Doctor Chakwas, finishing the calibrations with Tali, "I must say I've never seen equipment like this. I'm actually quite impressed."

"Yeah well when they invent a medi-gun I'll be a lot more impressed. Thanks Doc, and thank you Miss Zorah. My chest doesn't hurt as much anymore at least," said John, "Where's Shepard by the way?"

"He's off on a mission with Miranda and Jack," said Tali.

"So we should be expecting news reports of widespread destruction and mayhem, and expect Jack, Miranda, or both to be coming back in a bad mood," said John, "Have either of you seen Lia?"

"The ship just recently got back from a mission so maybe she's in engineering," said Doctor Chakwas.

"No, I've been the only one in engineering for the day so far," said Tali.

"She could be anywhere by now," said John.

"Well you better find her quickly because after Shepard is finished with his mission, we'll be leaving for The Migrant Fleet," said Doctor Chakwas, causing Tali's head to dip slightly.

"I think I have a few ideas where she might be, do you think you can stall Shepard if he gets back before I do," said John.

"You have until the end of the day," said Doctor Chakwas.

"I better get going then," said John as he rushed out the door, "Sorry about that Mr. Frog Man," he also said after accidently running into Thane.

* * *

><p><em>Later<em>

"Okay I've checked the aquarium, I've checked with the restaurant, and no luck. Aside from the arboretum, there's no other place I can think to check," said John, stepping out of the cab and walking inside.

The vines obscuring the ladder to Lia's special place looked like they had been moved recently but he wasn't sure if that was because he had been here days earlier or Lia had been here a bit more recently.

"I know the doctor said I shouldn't strain myself, but what the hell," said John, starting the long climb up the ladder.

When he reached the top he found what looked like a sleeping bag and several spent tubes of nutrient paste.

"So she has been here recently, but she's not here now," said John, "Meaning either she will be coming back here or she's been staying here while the ship's been away and now is back at the ship. I swear to god if I've been just walking around for nothing, I'm going to end up punching somebody. Not Lia of course, just somebody. Maybe the prick waiter from that restaurant, or maybe Miranda. Yeah Yeah, I shouldn't punch women but I swear to god she has it coming. And I really need to stop talking to myself."

John walked over to the edge of the small platform and sat there staring at the sunset. He had never seen the sunset on an alien planet before. Come to think of it he hadn't seen a sunset in over 100 years. The ship had a day/night cycle which seemed to be set for Earth time, the Illusive Man hadn't apparently counted on any aliens being a part of the crew but that was too complex to think about. He didn't get to fully enjoy the sunset the first day he was here due to the fact he had to deal with having a few holes made in his chest. Sometimes it was just nice to enjoy the natural beauty of it all. While introspecting John thought about the other dream he had had in the hospital.

"I haven't had that dream in years, never really understood it before now. Guess I still don't. Last time it stopped was when I started having those dreams about Lia," said John.

"You were what about me," said a voice from the ladder.

John turned toward the sound and saw Lia climbing up the ladder.

"Lia, I finally found you," said John, wrapping his arms around her.

"Well I stopped by the hospital today and they said you had checked out, rather forcefully I might add," said Lia disentangling herself from his arms, "I went by the ship and Doctor Chakwas said you had gone looking for me and I thought you would end up here eventually."

"So I did end up going in a circle for nothing? Damn it, I should have stayed at the ship," said John, smacking himself in the head.

Lia laughed a bit and said, "So you're alright now?"

"Yeah, aside from being part robot now I seem to be in perfect health. How about you," said John.

"Fine, I'm just fine," said Lia, awkwardly.

John and Lia refused to meet each other's eyes, causing the awkwardness level of the current situation to rise exponentially.

Eventually John decided to make the first move and said, "Umm…So how about this weather?"

"I wouldn't know, my suit is temperature controlled," said Lia.

"Right, did not know that," said John.

"I know what you're trying to do John," said Lia, "You want to talk about what I said before that nurse injected you with sedative."

"Yes, thank you I had no idea how to bring it up," said John.

"I understand if you don't feel the same way," said Lia, lowering her head.

"Why would say that," said John, placing his finger underneath her visor.

"I…just forget it," said Lia.

"No, why would you think that I would reject you when I feel exactly the same way," said John, giving her a smile.

Lia's head snapped up and said, "I'm sorry my audio receptors must be malfunctioning, I believe I just heard you say something crazy like…."

"Lia, I'm saying that I care for you the same way you do for me. Is there something wrong with that," said John.

"I definitely heard you wrong you must still be loopy from the hospital sedatives. We best be getting back to the ship," said Lia as she turned to leave before John grabbed her arm, "Let go John."

"Lia, what's wrong? I thought you would be happy," said John.

Lia stood there, locked in place by John's grip for several seconds before replying, "If you're just trying to spare my emotions and pride…"

"Is that what you think I'm doing," said John.

"Well I don't feel the same for you. Okay, let go now," said Lia in a matter of fact tone like she was stating her favorite color, "Just forget what you heard at the hospital."

John refused to let her go and said, "No…I care for you and I know you feel the same way. I don't know why you accept my confession when I've accepted yours. Now treat me like an adult and tell me why you're trying to pretend I'm not telling you what you want to hear."

"Fine, if you must know you must be insane for liking me. I mean look at me, I'm a damn suit rat, a freak unable to show you affection. You don't even know what my face looks like and you just expect me to believe you actually care. You're an idiot, a huge idiot, no you're just a…a complete bosh'tet," she replied breaking free of his grip.

She didn't move and continued in her diatribe, "I can't kiss you, I can't feel your skin on mine because I'm trapped in this damned suit and you don't deserve that. You deserve someone who can do those things so please let's just go."

"That's it," said John.

"What," Lia questioned. She had poured out her heart and soul and that was his response.

(Cue "I don't want to set the world on fire" by The Ink Spots)

"Do you really think I'm that shallow and self-centered? If anyone here is the bosh'tet it's you. I'm just a bike messenger from New York with a penchant for electronics and you're acting like the universe should hand itself to me on a silver platter. "I'm not good enough for you, I can't show affection to you whenever you want" that is the reason why you're acting this way. Look at you, even with the suit you're beautiful, gorgeous even. I don't care what you look like under it because I know the person underneath. And she's a beautiful, selfless, girl who can turn some eezo, pipes and some leftover circuit boards into a warp drive. If anything I'm the one who's not good enough for you, and you don't see me wallowing in self-pity," said John, wrapping his arms around her waist, "I don't care about not being able to touch you whenever I feel like. I don't care what you look like under your mask, you could have a Predator face or be a plant that's achieved consciousness, I don't know but it wouldn't matter because I love Lia'Vael nar Ulnay both inside and out. And you can continue to deny it all you like but I'll keep saying it until you believe it."

Lia didn't say anything for several moments before resting her head on his chest and replying, "Say it one more time, please."

"I love you Lia, and that's the truth," said John.

She replied with a murmured, "I love you too, my handsome bosh'tet."

"So pity party over," said John.

"Yeah," said Lia with a slight laugh, "Now are you absolutely sure…."

"Yes," he yelled, "I love you."

"Just making sure," said Lia with a hidden smile.

"I get the feeling you just wanted me to say it again didn't you," said John with a raised eyebrow.

"I get the feeling…you're on to something," said Lia.

"Well, we best get back to the ship before they leave," said John.

"Can't we stay like this for a little while longer," said Lia, returning the hug.

"Was Shepard back when you went by," said John.

"Yeah," said Lia.

"Then no," said John, "But if you want to continue this later we can."

"Hmm, I guess," said Lia reluctantly breaking up the hug.

"C'mon I'll race ya," said John running for the ladder.

"And here I thought you said you wanted me to treat you like an adult," Lia said with a sigh before running off to join him.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime later<em>

By the time Lia and John got back to the ship something was going on. Standing in the middle of the commissary was Shepard and Miranda having what sounded like an argument but couldn't tell due to the crowd which had formed.

"What do you even see in that buckethead," said Miranda.

"That "buckethead" you're referring to is my girlfriend," said Shepard.

He had just come back from a mission to save Miranda's sister, and she had taken the opportunity to "thank" him personally. Her attempts had failed however once again, and the argument that ensued had spilled over into the mess hall where they were currently standing.

"What does she have that I don't," said Miranda.

"A personality for one," said Shepard.

"How can you like that damn suit rat over me," said Miranda.

"What did you just say," said Shepard.

"At least you can have me whenever you want. She would probably be too busy coughing and sneezing to even give you a damn blow," said Miranda.

All of a sudden she felt a tap on her shoulder before turning around and seeing John's fist meet her face.

"Anything that happens from this point onwards doesn't matter, that was so unbelievably worth it," said John.

"How dare you punch me," said Miranda.

"How dare you insult Miss Zorah? How dare you think that you're inherently superior to everyone? Why did your father design a sex doll with a British accent and more breasts than brains? These are the questions," said John.

"You want to go frat boy," said Miranda.

"Anytime and anywhere, you test-tube grown slut," said John.

"Alright break it up," said Shepard getting between the two, "John head to engineering."

"But Shepard…," said John.

"Now," replied Shepard, leaving no room for interpretation.

"Come on Shepard, let Desmond tear the cheerleader a new one," said take a wild guess.

But John had left the room already and had taken Lia with him.

"We need to have a very frank discussion Miranda," said Shepard.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime later<em>

"_I have no idea why I did that_," thought John as he lay in bed, "_But who cares_?"

Everyone had congratulated him for laying out the XO of the Normandy, Jack even said that he had earned her respect for doing something she should have done long ago. Lia, Gabby, and Jacob had all given him a stern talking to, but he had expected as much

"_So I now have an alien girlfriend, I punched Miranda in the face, and earned the respect and admiration of my fellow crew. This is definitely the best day of my entire life_."

John turned off his lamp and was about to fall asleep before he heard a knock at the door. He got up to answer it and found Lia standing there wringing her hands in nervousness.

"Erm, I wanted to ask something. Umm, I know you only allowed it because I was drunk and had nowhere else to go the first time but I was wondering if…," said Lia, letting the subject hang in the air.

"You want to sleep with me," said John, eyebrow raised.

"Yes….I mean no, no, not in that way I just meant I would enjoy it if…," said Lia.

"Don't worry, I know sleep together doesn't always mean birds and bees are involved. Sure, if you feel alright about it but I must warn you that I do snore," said John.

"I can just turn off my audio receptors," said Lia.

"Alright then," said John, and he and Lia both got into his bed. Lia was above the covers and as far away from John as possible while still facing him, so John reached over wrapped his arms around her waist. The action earned him a slight meep from her, before she returned the embrace hesitantly.

"Hmm…feels a lot softer than last time," said John.

"I removed the armor plating of my suit," said Lia.

"Good to know, good night Lia," said John, before closing his eyes.

"Good night," said Lia.

The next morning was rough on everyone except for John and Lia. John had extracted himself from the nightly embrace and went out to the showers and let Lia sleep. On the way, he passed Miranda who gave him the stink eye which John returned in kind. As Miranda walked into the female showers, John got a fun idea, and pulled out his Omni-tool.

"Hey John, what're you doing," said Kasumi appearing right next to him.

"Morning Kasumi, just hacking into the water temperature control systems," said John.

"Isn't Miranda taking her shower right now," said Kasumi, unseen eyebrow raised.

"Is she now, didn't notice," said John.

"How did you accomplish that," said Kasumi.

"Well since I work in engineering and know most of the systems inside and out I can easily hack into anything on this ship so it was a simple matter of….," John was saying before he realized that Kasumi had disappeared before reappearing a second later carrying some very peculiar objects.

"Sorry had to take care of something, what were you saying," said Kasumi.

"Is that Miranda's catsuit," said John.

"Yep," said Kasumi.

"And her undergarments and towel," replied John.

"What of it," said Kasumi.

"I could just kiss you, you know that," John said in response.

"Even though you and Lia are now an item," said Kasumi.

"I'm not going to ask how you know that because I'm pretty sure you would kill me after telling me. Besides I'm sure she would understand, given the situation. By the way, would you tell some of the crew to meet me in the mess hall and tell them we're planning a surprise? Also would you tell them that the women's showers are temporarily out of order while I sort out this faulty temperature control problem," asked John.

"T'would be my honor and privilege Desmond-san," Kasumi, disappearing once more.

"_Scratch what I said yesterday, this is the best day of my life_," thought John, before turning the showers arctic cold and hearing the screams from inside.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note<em>

1. Reviews are appreciated and any help anyone is willing to offer is very appreciated.

2. I'm having a few difficulties writing a new story summary to make it sound more enticing for people to read so if anyone has any ideas feel free to send me a PM

FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Remember that idea I had for Mass Effect: Conspiracies or whatever the hell I was going to call it, it's been a while since I've written so I don't remember. Well… I don't think I can do it. I'm working so hard to finish this story so I can start on the sequel that I don't have time to do it.

So here's what the basic plot outline would have been:

Kaidan launches an investigation into corruption in the council with the help of Anderson and Valern (The Salarian Councilor). While investigating, Kaidan comes across a Cerberus cell on the Citadel in a part of the ruins which has yet to be rebuilt as well as making the discovery that one of the councilors has been blackmailed to downplay the Reaper Threat as well as provide intel on an unknown space station built during the time of the Protheans. The Councilor was eventually revealed to be Tevos, who gave Cerberus what they wanted in exchange for her daughter's continued safety. Before Kaidan and Executor Palin can place Tevos under arrest she is shot and maimed by an unseen assassin who, after leading Kaidan on a chase, is revealed to be Sparatus who after coming into contact with a piece of Sovereign, had become indoctrinated, but still stubbornly holds onto the belief that the Reapers are just a myth. He reveals he shot Tevos for fear that she would admit that the Reapers were real in interrogation and that the Cerberus cell that Kaidan destroyed were a group of corrupt C-Sec officers that he used to strong-arm Tevos into being quiet about the Reapers. Regardless of their past grievances, Kaidan attempts to reach the Councilor and pleads with him to see what he has become but it is all for naught as the Councilor's sanity is too far gone after two years of indoctrination. Convinced that Kaidan means to upset the Galactic peace that he has worked so hard to achieve, in reality keeping the masses ignorant so the Reapers would invade into an unknowing and unprepared galaxy, Sparatus attempts to kill Kaidan, and after a climactic battle Sparatus almost falls off a nearby platform but is saved by Kaidan . After being pulled into custody but released by Valern and Anderson, he tells him the tale which Valern is forced to accept is true. Convinced that keeping people in the dark is no longer an option, Valern calls a press conference….

"My fellow races, I come to you as a bearer of bad news. As of right now, I Councilor of the Salarian people, am resigning from my position effective immediately. But before I leave I must confess a long held secret that has been kept from all of you. Two years ago, on this very day, the Citadel was attacked by former Spectre Saren Arterius and an army of geth. Had it not been for the actions of Humanity in general and the Alliance in particular, the Destiny Ascention as well as hundreds of lives would have been lost, including the lives of the Council itself. However, in our haste to maintain peace after the invasion, we ignored the warnings of the man who made the call to save us. In doing so, we soiled his legacy and allowed the public to be ignorant of the threat we will soon face. Commander Shepard warned us all that the Reapers were still out there, and the truth is…he was right. Sovereign was not a geth construct as we, The Council, had told the public, but a scout for the Reapers. There are others out there, some possibly stronger than Sovereign himself. I urge the people of this galaxy to prepare for the worst threat that this galaxy may ever face. However, as I have allowed the corruption of my colleagues to run rampant, and given the recent events that have occurred, I have no choice to resign from the Council effective immediately and can only hope my successor can do a far better job than I did."

* * *

><p>"What happens now," said Kaidan to Valern, "What will you do?"<p>

"I have a shuttle waiting for me right now. I'll be returning to Sur'Kesh to plead with the Dalatrasses (fun fact: there are actually hundreds of Dalatrasses for varying areas of Salarian space, the one from Mass Effect 3 is just the most powerful) to put research into the Reapers, maybe we can find some way to combat their weapons. We won't have a lot of data to work with but it's better we find something," said Valern.

"Any idea who your successor will be, or for any of the other councilors," asked Anderson.

"I know a Dalatrass named Esheel has been gunning for my position ever since I was elected so she will probably get it. We might not always see eye to eye but she is a good woman, willing to put Salarian interests aside for the galaxy as a whole. The lines of succession are clear for the Turian Hierarchy, next in line is a former general named Quentius. Never met him in person but I've heard he's a good man, actually speaks out against Turian actions against humanity and believes in Galactic harmony. Good person to have on your side in the struggles ahead, I would say. I don't know who Tevos replacement will be but I have a few ideas, there's a young upstart who's been making waves by the name of Irissa. I met her once during a visit to Thessia, she's not exactly someone you want as an enemy," said Valern.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye Councilor," said Kaidan, holding out his hand.

Valern took it, "It's just Valern now, but thank you all the same Kaidan. It's been a pleasure to work with you and you as well Captain Anderson. But before I leave, and before my resignation is finalized, I'd like you to have something. Kaidan, you sought out the truth in the most trying of times, and showed valor, courage, and wisdom in dealing with the circumstances surrounding the investigation. That's why it is mine and Anderson's belief that you have proven yourself worthy of joining the SPECTREs."

"I-I couldn't possibly," said Kaidan out of surprise.

"Go on, take the position. You deserve it Alenko," said Anderson.

"But after Horizon," Kaidan tried to say.

"Horizon was not your fault Kaidan, we should have listened to Shepard about the human colony attacks," said Valern, "Please don't let my last act as a Councilor go to waste."

"I-I accept sir," said Kaidan, saluting the Councilors.

"Good luck to you both," said Valern, heading off to the shuttle.

* * *

><p>That was the planned conclusion to the story, if you want to take a crack at writing the full story I'll make it a "story challenge" like the authors who are better than me do.<p>

I don't know how long the next chapter will take maybe a day, maybe more.

_Next Chapter_: Shepard Interlude 4: Tali's Trial and Shepard's Origins


End file.
